Fire & Rain
by destiny's sweet melody
Summary: MariChat May 2018 collection. People were always saying that Chat Noir and Ladybug were complete opposites, perfectly complementary. But, when a series of unforeseen events leads to Marinette spending more time with her masked partner, she finds that they have more in common than she originally thought.
1. Murphy's Law

**Disclaimer:** I do not own _Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Chat Noir_ or anything else recognizable contained within this fic.

 **A/N:** I decided to join in on MariChat May because I'm actual trash! I thought I'd fill one or two prompts, but once I saw the prompts the makings of an actual story started growing in my brain. That being said, each chapter will probably be less than 1k each because my brain might actually implode if I try to write another long fic right now.

 **Summary:** MariChat May 2018 collection. People were always saying that Chat Noir and Ladybug were complete opposites, perfectly complementary. But, when a series of unforeseen events leads to Marinette spending more time with her masked partner, she finds that they have more in common than she originally thought.

* * *

 **Day One:** _You're injured, please stay the night. Please._ In which everything that can go wrong, does.

* * *

 **Fire & Rain**

 **One: Murphy's Law**

Marinette had plans. She was a planner by nature, even if, all things considered, her plans rarely went off without a hitch. As Ladybug, she was good at thinking on her feet when it came to using Lucky Charm, and people seemed to be under the impression that made her a master strategist. As Marinette, despite being elected class president three years in a row, she seemed to have earned a reputation for flying by the seat of her pants.

It was pretty unfair, actually.

The point was, she had _plans_. On where she wanted her life to go and how she would be able to get there. Overall, she was doing pretty well with her plans. In order to get scholarships for university, she worked hard until she was in the top five in her class and the top two percentile in her entire school. With Alya's help, she had started a little online boutique that took commissions so that she would be able to move out and support herself without her parents worrying about her upon graduation. She had even applied for an internship at Gabriel Agreste's company for the upcoming summer so that she could be that much closer to fulfilling her dreams of being a world famous designer!

She was doing well with her plans. . . except when it came to Adrien. Whenever she tried to confess or so much as _approach_ her crush, it seemed as if all the bad luck in the world focused solely on her. No matter how carefully she planned their interactions, she would stutter and trip, or somebody would interrupt, or there would be an akuma attack. Anything that could happen to keep her away from her goal of dating Adrien, inevitably happened.

But Marinette Dupain-Cheng was not a quitter! And she was not going to finish the school year without confessing to Adrien. She meant it this time!

Alya had looked at her with an unfair amount of doubt when she declared that, but eventually her best friend had agreed to help. The perfect opportunity presented itself when their class was chosen to put on that year's school fundraiser and after much arguing, it was eventually decided they would hold a pop-up store/yard sale/artisan fair hybrid that Marinette would have to oversee. Unsurprisingly, when the time came to actually get through the tedious paperwork necessary for holding such an event came around, the only people that offered to help were Alya, Nino, and Adrien.

Then Alya had conveniently remembered she had a dentist's appointment the Saturday that they had agreed to meet up, and she needed Nino there because she was afraid of the dentist, hadn't she mentioned that before? It was such a shame, but hey, at least Marinette would still have Adrien to help her out.

It wasn't subtle _at all_ , but luckily Adrien had only smiled and said she was welcome to come over to his house that Saturday evening. And so, Marinette moved one step closer to fulfilling her plans.

Of course, that meant everything had to go wrong before she even got to Adrien's house! The first thing was the black clouds rolling overhead as she walked to his home, without an umbrella, of course. She always managed to forget umbrellas. The second thing was the small heel of her white dress shoes breaking when she was forced into a light run. The last was the reason she was running: an akuma.

It was an easy battle, over quick, but not quick enough. By the time she swung away from her partner and any other prying eyes to drop her transformation, the heavens had opened up and released their fury on her. The bluebell sundress she was wearing was soaked so quickly and thoroughly that it was practically sheer. She couldn't show up at Adrien's house looking like that, and she was forced to limp her way back home to change and send an apologetic text to her kind classmate.

The rain didn't seem to be letting up any time soon, and she wasn't in the mood to run under the rain. With her luck, she would trip and crack her head on the pavement.

Marinette had barely stepped into her room when she heard a clatter on her balcony. Raising a brow, she walked over to her skylight and cracked it open to peek outside, expecting the harsh winds to have knocked over a flower pot. And then threw the skylight open with a shout when she saw the limp form of Chat Noir!

"Chat!" she shrieked, running to kneel beside him, forgetting for a moment that she shouldn't be so familiar with him. He had saved Marinette more than a handful of times over the years, but the experiences were brief and playful, there was no reason for her to really _care_ for him. Well, a citizen could be concerned for a hero, couldn't she? "What happened?"

The blond grumbled something unintelligible and made to sit up, supporting all his weight on his left hand and struggling. Marinette placed her hands on his shoulders to help him up and immediately pulled back when he flinched away with a hiss of pain.

"Sorry," her hands hovered uselessly as she watched him sit up. The reason for his pain quickly became apparent. His right shoulder was visibly dislocated under his skintight suit and she winced, "What happened to your shoulder?"

The akuma didn't do that, but she couldn't mention that, of course. He offered her a too big grin, which clashed with the pained look in his eyes, "Funny story, really. I was running over the rooftops when the rain kicked up and I crashed into your chimney!"

Marinette's lips thinned, "That's not funny."

"It's a little funny."

She glared at his nonchalant tone, and after a beat he dropped his smile. Reaching for the baton she had just realized was lying against the shattered remains of a flower pot, he made to use it as a cane to stand, "I'll get out of your way."

"No, you won't!" Marinette huffed, not caring that she wasn't Ladybug at the moment and had no right to give him orders. Chat froze at the tone anyway. "You're hurt. Come inside and let me help."

He frowned for a moment before quietly nodding. It wasn't an easy task. Chat wasn't particularly heavy, though he was taller than her now, but every movement caused him pain and she only made it worse by hesitating so much that she made the four step journey to her bedroom last whole minutes. He did his best to not make a sound, but couldn't keep from crying out when he all but fell onto her bed.

"Sorry," she cried again, wringing her hands together.

"It's fine," he insisted, shifting his weight so that he was lying on his back. "Thank you, Princess."

Marinette shifted uneasily on her feet, before realizing that she wasn't _doing_ anything to help like she promised. "Let me go get some painkillers! And ice! And. . . food? Would you like some food?"

"Some cookies would be nice," Chat smiled crookedly.

She couldn't tell if he was joking or not, "I'll go get you some cookies!"

She did her best to gather all the supplies as quickly as possible, but by the time she made it back up to her room, Chat Noir was snoring softly in her bed. Should she let him sleep? What if he had a concussion? How is she supposed to tell if he had a concussion?

Panic flowing through her veins, she resolved to wake him up, right until her eyes landed on the poster directly over his head. And the one across from him. And the one behind her. And the other two dozen or so Adrien posters she had collected over the past three years.

Right. Chat Noir's health was the most important thing, but she might strangle him if he made fun of her for her crush. First, she would take down and hide the posters. Then, she'd wake him up.

* * *

 **A/N:** Adrien doesn't seem to find it weird how familiar Marinette acts with Chat Noir, but he probably _should_.

I'm already late, despite meticulously planning everything so that I could stay on schedule! Yesterday, I had to go fight my job's HR department because they tried to pay me not even _half_ of what I was owed and that took FOUR hours! Then I went to a baseball game that I already had tickets to (I can't just throw away money) and they went to EXTRA INNINGS! The universe didn't want me to publish this on time.

But at least you get two chapters in one day. Yay, I guess? I mean, if you like it.

Let me know what you liked, didn't like, and what you thought could use improvement!

~ Destiny's Sweet Melody


	2. Unusual Tastes

**A/N:** Picks up immediately where the last one left off.

* * *

 **Day Two:** _Can I pick, Princess?_ In which there are TV shows and awkward silences. And then some not-so-awkward silences.

* * *

 **Fire & Rain**

 **Two: Unusual Tastes**

Chat Noir had grumbled petulantly when she woke him up, but accepted the water and painkillers she had brought up. He reached for the cookies next but she reminded him that they needed to relocate his shoulder. Not that Marinette was looking forward to the act.

"Do you know how to do that?" he asked incredulously.

"It's called Google, Chat," she huffed with more confidence than she felt. "Just lie there and keep your arm at a ninety degree angle."

He obeyed without question and she regretted his easy nature. She was going to have to actually do this, wasn't she? Grimacing, she grabbed his right arm firmly with both hands. Slowly, she began to pull. Sensing resistance, she was glad that she had spent years lugging forty pound bags of flour for her parents and she wouldn't need to position her feet against his torso like the how-to site she had found suggested for smaller (presumed female, ugh) helpers.

There was a clunk and a shift as the head of the humerus slid into the socket beneath his shoulder blade and she jumped away from him. Chat groaned in pain before sighing in relief, "Oh, that's better."

Quickly, she grabbed the ice pack and a scarf to make a sling before returning to his side, "You need to rest your shoulder, so you just stay right here."

She sounded like a _mother_ , she thought with a wry grin as she tied a knot in the scarf over his left shoulder.

"If it's not too much trouble," he agreed weakly.

Marinette frowned at his downtrodden tone. She wondered for a moment why he didn't protest, if he didn't have anybody waiting for him to come back home that night, but accepted that she couldn't ask him about that. Instead, she sighed, "It's no trouble at all, it's the least I could do for the great hero of Paris."

Chat grinned just a little too widely and she felt herself blush. Maybe she had laid it on a bit too thick, especially since he seemed to be under the impression that she was a huge fan of his. She probably shouldn't have pretended to swoon way back when with Evillustrator, but she was only trying to act as un-Ladybug as she possibly could at the time!

Fumbling for something to say, she suddenly realized she was still wearing her wet - practically sheer - dress and she jumped off her bed. Her poor bed! She would probably have to get rid of the entire mattress after all this. With only half an explanation, she grabbed the nearest articles of clothing she could find and ran down the stairs to the bathroom to change.

* * *

It was surprisingly quiet with Chat in the room. It was even more surprising that she minded. It was awkward, all told. Neither of them sure how to act when there wasn't an immediate threat to outrun or make jokes about. He didn't even offer any puns, though that may be due to any lingering pain.

Eventually, desperate to fill the silence, she turned her computer on and pulled up the browser before clicking on one of her most visited sites. The somewhat guttural tones of her favorite Turkish drama soon filled the room and she was so intent on reading the subtitles that she forgot she wasn't alone with Tikki in the room. One minute turned into ten and then into half an hour. It wasn't until the one hour mark that she was reminded of her guest.

He was so silent, she didn't hear him move until he was sitting at her feet, "What's this?"

She startled but quickly brushed it off. " _Muhteşem Yüzyıl,"_ she answered automatically before shaking her head. "I mean, Magnificent Century. It's a historical drama about Sultan Süleyman the Magnificent, but it's really more about his wife Hürrem."

Chat hummed curiously, "I didn't know you liked Turkish history."

Marinette snorted, "Nobody watches it for the historical accuracy! It's more like a soap opera that just so happens to be set in the Ottoman Empire."

"A soap opera?" He looked over at her to quirk a brow under his mask.

"Of course, the sultanate of women didn't get built because the women were nice!"

A hesitant smile appeared on his face as he turned back to the screen, "So, it's like a feminist retelling type thing?"

"Not really," she admitted. "Nobody's really nice on this show, not even the kids! I think the most morally upstanding character is Süleyman himself and he's already assassinated his best friend at this point."

"You like this?" Chat turned back to her, eyes wide in surprise.

Marinette shrugged awkwardly, she had already received judgment from Alya for liking a show with no clear hero. She doubted Chat Noir, an actual hero, would understand any better. "It's different from what I usually watch. I don't know, sometimes it's satisfying to see the other end of the spectrum."

Sometimes, she wondered what it would feel like to be as efficiently brutal as Hawk Moth against the man himself. So sue her.

She looked at Chat, waiting for him to make some comment on how there's good and evil and shades of gray were excuses evil people gave. Instead, he nodded quietly and gave the screen his undivided attention. After a moment, he leaned back so that he was resting half on Marinette's legs. At least the quiet that followed their short exchange was filled by the sounds of Hürrem's devious plotting which seemed to entertain Chat as much as it did her.

When the episode was over, he spoke. "If you like morally gray dramas, could I make a suggestion?"

"I guess," she answered slowly, and he was up on his feet in an instant. He awkwardly typed with his left hand before cheering in victory as he clicked on something. As he moved to sit back by her feet, what was obviously an anime started playing on the screen. "What is that?"

Chat grinned widely at her, "It's called Neon Genesis Evangelion."

* * *

A/N: _Muhteşem Yüzyıl_ is the only thing I've ever watched that's made me cheer for a murderous social climber, I swear! It's awesome, but it has zero blameless characters.

I think anybody that's so much as heard of anime, knows what _Neon Genesis Evangelion_ is, but just in case I'm just that old (though _Rebuild of Evangelion_ is still relatively new), it's a psychological action/drama that asks the question "What would really happen if you give a fourteen year old the responsibility of saving the world from otherworldly monsters?" I feel like these two in particular would be interested in the answer.

As always, let me know what you liked, didn't like, and what you thought could use improvement!

~ Destiny's Sweet Melody


	3. New Family

**A/N:** Little bit of a time skip!

* * *

 **Day Three:** _Adopted Cat._ In which the Dupain-Chengs are a little _too_ accepting of the weird things that surround their bakery.

* * *

 **Fire & Rain**

 **Three: New Family**

It wasn't surprising to Marinette that Chat was gone before she woke up the day after she found him on her balcony with a dislocated shoulder. What _was_ surprising was that he was back the next night insisting they finish binge watching _Evangelion._ Once they were done with the series, plus the movie, he decided he wanted to watch _Magnificent Century_ , which meant that she had to start it from the beginning. Not that it was too much of a trial for her. The first season was her favorite, despite her favorite characters not appearing until the second.

It became a thing for them, even though it couldn't be a nightly or even weekly thing. Chat Noir was a hero, and also a person with an entire life outside of being Chat Noir. He had to have a family that cared, and would notice if he was sneaking out regularly. Most likely. Marinette didn't have the right to ask him about his secret identity, and Ladybug had made it her prerogative to never talk about anything too personal.

Sometimes, she worried about her partner's home life, but she didn't think there was anything she could do about it.

Her parents, however, seemed to disagree.

Marinette blinked from where she was frozen at the threshold to the apartment, the bag of groceries in her hand all but forgotten. She remembered the conversation she'd had with her mother when she called to say she was heading back from Alya's, how Sabine had asked her to pick up some ingredients for a last minute dinner she was planning.

"By the way," her maman had demurred. "We've decided to adopt a cat!"

Marinette had thought that was strange. Her parents had been dead set against pets (it was the only thing her papa had denied her no matter how much she cried as a child) since they lived over a bakery. Pet dander in dough was a quick way to get shut down. But she had shrugged it off, because it was probably just one of her mother's easy jokes. Or, maybe, they had adopted one of those hairless cats.

She did not expect to see Chat Noir grinning widely as he played video games with her dad!

"What's going on?" she heard herself ask as if from a distance. It felt like she was having an out of body experience.

"Oh, hey, Marinette!" Chat threw over his shoulder easily, as if he sat with her family every day.

Sabine came over to take the bag from her, "Oh good, now I can make the baozi. Chat mentioned that he wanted to try it. Did you know he spoke Mandarin?"

Marinette's eye twitched. No, she didn't! How did her mother? She slammed the door shut behind her when she finally managed to move. "What is going on?" she demanded.

Tom paused the game and turned to look at her, "Chat here came to visit you and knocked on your window since you wouldn't open. When Sabine went to check on the noise, she saw him and invited him in."

"That was really nice of you, Madame Cheng," Chat smiled sincerely at the woman in question.

Sabine waved her hand at him, "It was nothing, and please, call me maman."

"What?" Marinette screeched.

Her maman gave her an unimpressed look, "I told you, we've decided to adopt him, dear."

"He - he already _has_ a family!" At least, she was pretty sure he did. She hoped he did.

"I can have two families," Chat interrupted. "I like this one, your dad plays video games."

Marinette felt her heart constrict at the sincerity in his tone and felt ashamed of herself. It's not like they were _actually_ adopting Chat Noir, but he _did_ seem to need a warm and loving family. It wouldn't be a hardship to share hers, especially when it would hardly be a regular thing. He could speak Chinese with her maman, and play video games with her papa, and watch morally gray TV series with her.

And they could be a weird yet loving family.

 _Oh brother,_ she sighed and made her way over to the sofa. "I have the winner," she declared and the smile Chat gave her was almost enough to make her forget about the absurdity of the situation.

* * *

Dinner was a surprisingly calm affair. If anybody were to look in through the window, they would think the Dupain-Cheng household played host to costumed super-powered teens all the time. Well, technically, it did, but nobody at the table _knew_ that except for Marinette. And _she_ was the one that was most put off by the situation at hand.

"So," Sabine began and Marinette should have known better than take a bite when her mother used that tone. "Are you two going to be like siblings, or is he going to be our son-in-law?"

It was fortunate that Chat knew the Heimlich maneuver.

It was even more fortunate that she could blame her speeding heart and flushed face on her near death experience.

* * *

 **A/N:** I love fics that have Marinette's parents meeting Chat and just being like "This one's ours now."

Let me know what you liked, didn't like, and what you thought could use improvement!

~ Destiny's Sweet Melody


	4. Sugar Rush

**A/N:** Another small, almost negligible, time skip.

 **To Anonymous Person:** Yeah, Eva is that anime that certain anime fans swear is the Holy Grail and if it isn't your favorite you're invalid. I guess I'm invalid (lol), but I DO genuinely like it! And, yeah, Marinette's parents are basically perfect, and it's so refreshing to have a heroine that has a loving, supportive home life. They deserve all the love!

 **Thank you to everyone** who added this story to their favorites and/or alerts!

* * *

 **Day Four:** _Croissant Murder._ In which Adrien's diet is terrible, but his new parents own a bakery.

* * *

 **Fire & Rain**

 **Four: Sugar Rush**

It's not that Marinette regretted taking care of Chat Noir, it's just that she didn't think that meant she was inviting him into her life. She didn't know that meant she was going to have to make changes in her day to day life.

The first thing was her (not so) small collection of Adrien posters being taken down and having to be kept down. She wasn't at the point where she trusted Chat emotionally enough to tell him about her crush, and even if she was, she still wouldn't trust him to not tease her, albeit in a good-natured way. The spots in which the posters used to be were still bare, on the chance that Chat would stop coming by and she could put them back up.

Mostly. She had placed a group picture of Alya, Nino, Adrien and herself in the spot right over her pillow, and she kind of liked it better, to be honest. They all looked so happy, and Adrien's smile was much more genuine than the one on the poster. The spot next to the computer had a Polaroid of her parents with Chat that she had been forced to take for them and hung on their refrigerator. She had made a copy because Chat and her parents were ridiculously photogenic and it _was_ a genuinely nice picture.

The next thing, the most important thing, was finding a place for Tikki to hide whenever the cat boy came to visit. It was a bit unreasonable to ask the ancient being to huddle under Marinette's pillow for however long Chat was around. Luckily, Marinette was able to quickly find a birdhouse her parents kept in storage that she brought into her room. She stitched a small pillow for comfort, and ribbons and silk flowers to decorate the plain terracotta vessel.

It was a bit hard to explain why she had a birdhouse in her room, and she'd had to say she went through a faerie phase as a child and it was a home for sprites she had made and kept because she thought it was cute. If Chat found it suspicious that it hadn't been there the last time he had visited, or that the skill level of the decorations were far above a child's, he didn't mention it. But the next time he came by, he brought bluebells as an offering to the faeries.

 _Joke's on him,_ she thought smugly. _Tikki had loved them!_

His spontaneous visits also meant that spontaneous sleepovers with Alya were out of the question. At least, in Marinette's room they were. She couldn't risk having her best friend, who was obsessed with discovering the identities of Paris' superheroes, find out that Marinette had a close, personal relationship with one of them (and technically both). Even if she could trust Alya to not reveal their identities to the world, she couldn't trust the blogger to not needle him for the truth for her own curiosity. And she couldn't trust Chat to keep his wits about himself when Alya was on a mission.

So, no more sleepovers in Marinette's room. Alya was okay with keeping their girls nights at the Césaire household, although they were halved in frequency since Alya's sisters kept intruding on them. Marinette's parents were more than happy to entertain Chat whenever he happened to come by on girls night and he didn't mind that she wasn't there, so it all worked out.

Marinette didn't think all of that meant she would be responsible for fulfilling his every whim.

"Please," he whined from where he suddenly froze halfway to the chaise she was sitting on. "A croissant, please."

The designer blinked, then flicked her eyes to the empty plate on her table, nothing but crumbs left on it. The last of the chocolate croissants was halfway into her mouth, her cheeks puffed up and jaw stuck in a chewing motion. Shared family or no, she wasn't going to share her half-eaten food with him.

"Sorry, Kitty," she said after swallowing. "I ate them all already."

She startled when he fell to the ground as a motionless lump and then huffed when she realized he was just being overdramatic. Honestly, why was he such a drama queen?

"I want something _sweet_ ," he cried in a strained, reedy voice, face pressed against the carpet. "I haven't had anything sweet since you gave me those cookies."

"Really?" Marinette wondered aloud and felt an eyebrow raise in incredulity when he nodded. "But my parents -"

"Are more concerned with 'getting meat on my bones'," he interrupted almost petulantly. "They seem concerned that I fight monsters and yet I'm still as thin as their teenage daughter."

That was surprising, though it probably shouldn't be. Her parents took their responsibility towards their 'adopted son' very seriously, choosing their dinners on what he would like and scolding him when he did something particularly stupid against an akuma. Chat had taken to avoiding the apartment on the days there were akuma attacks but their - er, that is, _her_ maman had simply started keeping a notebook where she scribbled grievances that she would read out to him when he finally came by.

It made sense that they worried about his diet. Whenever she had to help him to his feet or lift him up to a rooftop as Ladybug, she had always found him to be worryingly thin. There were times she worried he actually _didn't_ have a home, or if he did, his family was so poor he didn't eat well enough. She had naturally assumed that her parents were plying him with sweets like they did with anybody that came to visit, but sweets wouldn't help him build muscle. A little bit of a gut, maybe, but not muscle.

"You really haven't had anything sweet since the cookies? But that was two months ago!" She was certain of that, because that was as much time as she'd had to put the school fundraiser together.

Chat nodded once again and then turned to narrow his eyes at the half-eaten croissant still held in her hand, "I'd murder somebody for a croissant right now."

Marinette frowned and then, because she had a little bit of a mean streak, she shoved the rest of the croissant into her mouth. She snickered at the cry he gave before rising to her feet and brushing any leftover crumbs off her clothes.

"I'm going to die," Chat cried, apparently content to fade away into nothingness on the floor of her room.

She giggled at his antics, "Don't worry, I'll go get you some more."

He sat up quickly, "There's more?"

"We're on top of a bakery, Chat," she deadpanned, barely sparing him a glance as she made her way to the trapdoor. "Of course, there's more."

He looked at her in awe and she ignored the way the tips of her ears burned as she quickly jogged her way down to the kitchen. Marinette had lived off sweets all her life, and quite frankly didn't have as much of a sweet tooth as people expected her to have, so there was more than enough chocolate croissants and other assorted samples and experiments her parents kept in their home fridge left.

She placed five croissants on a plate. And then added three strawberry tarts, two éclairs, and a mille-feuille, because it would be a shame to let them go to waste. It had nothing to do with the fact that she wanted Chat to smile at her like she was giving him the sun again.

* * *

 **A/N:** Bluebells are said to be related to faeries, they have magic and "ring" when there's a faerie nearby, and if you step into a circle of them you will be transported to the fae land.

Also, Adrien feeling as light as a feather to Marinette/Ladybug is still hilarious to me.

I was recently moved to a long weekend shift and it's still exhausting to me, so **I'm not sure how I'm going to update next.** Maybe I'll double-post on Sunday, or maybe I'll force myself to update before I crash into bed. We'll see.

Let me know what you liked, didn't like, and what could use improvement!

~ Destiny's Sweet Melody


	5. Hand-Stitched

**A/N:** I had to switch day 25 and 5 because of how the story developed in my head, but I don't think that's too much of a problem. I've seen it done before, at least.

I decided to do a double post because I'm so tired all I want to do is sleep!

* * *

 **(Technically) Day Twenty-Five:** _Chat Noir merch._ In which Marinette still plays with dolls.

* * *

 **Fire & Rain**

 **Five: Hand-Stitched**

Marinette breathed a sigh of relief as the Sunday dragged on and the school fundraiser continued without any major problems. There was a little problem with Chloé insisting that the jewelry she was selling (that had been gifted to her and she no longer wanted) deserved a bigger booth than Nathanaёl's 'scribbles', but they were able to resolve it by insisting that Chloé's booth was in the very center (it wasn't) and therefore everybody would see it first.

There was also the complaint that the suggested donation for the charity box at the entrance was too high. _Really?_ Two Euros was too high? The fact that it was a _donation_ and not a fee didn't seem to matter. The patrons felt like they would be judged if they didn't donate. As if they wouldn't be judged for thinking two Euros was too high! Eventually, Marinette had just scribbled out the two and let people donate what they wanted, _if_ they wanted to.

The fact that some 'vendors' were willing to haggle over prices and others weren't caused some contention as well. Marinette had to threaten to throw somebody out when they made Myléne cry for refusing to lower the prices on her handmade bracelets. Despite the fact that she would have to take them out herself because they only had one security and he was elderly and currently too busy keeping Ivan from breaking the customer's face. The man had eventually agreed to the price, paid, and left and everything was fine.

Nothing was on fire, nobody was akumatized, and they were already at their fundraising goal with three hours left.

Marinette should know better than to breathe a sigh of relief.

Alya had taken a lunch break and therefore she'd had to man the booth they shared on her own. They'd combined Marinette's love for designing, and Alya's love of superheroes to make merchandise based on the miraculous heroes. They were mostly simple T-shirts and scarves, since she'd had to make them all by hand in under two months, but since they were custom made they were amongst the most expensive merchandise. It was mostly Ladybug and Chat Noir (with a definite emphasis on Ladybug because _supply and demand_ ), but there was also Rena Rouge inspired scarves, Carapace jackets, and Queen B hair ribbons.

Her best friend had also insisted that Marinette bring the hand-stitched miraculous dolls she had made of each of the heroes and a few akumas as decoration for the booth. "It'll really make it pop," Alya had smiled.

Marinette had resisted at first, afraid that somebody would think they were for sale and would get upset if she refused to sell them. Especially if there were children like Manon that would throw an akuma-worthy tantrum if she refused to budge. And she _had_ been right. Just about everybody that had come up to the booth had shown interest in the dolls because they had never found plushies with so much _detail_ anywhere!

Thankfully, they were understanding enough when she said they were just decoration and not for sale, and they were happy enough to leave with an article of clothing and a smile.

She was feeling pretty confident about how everything was working out. So, _of course_ that was when Adrien decided to come check on how she was doing. Right when she was alone and most capable of making a fool of herself. Never let it be said that Marinette disappointed.

"Adrien! Doing what you - I mean, what are you doing? Here? Shouldn't you be at your booth?" Great, now it sounded like she wanted him to get lost.

Luckily, he didn't take offense, "Don't worry, boss, it's my lunch break. Nino's watching over the vinyl records."

"Oh, that's good. I mean, no, yeah, that's good," Marinette winced as she felt a blush bloom on her face. _Why_ couldn't she have a normal conversation with him?

Adrien smiled kindly and she felt her heart skip a beat, "Everything's going really well."

"Yes, everyone's doing a really good job." Oh good, she said a whole sentence that time! Now if only she could keep a conversation going. Marinette opened her mouth to say something and then quickly shut it with a clack when she realized she had nothing to say.

In the lull, Adrien's eyes landed on the collection of plushies in the corner of the booth. "Oh, did you make those?"

"Yeah, I - I did." And the stuttering's back, way to go, Marinette!

He picked up the Chat Noir doll, "I haven't found a Chat Noir doll this well made before. How much for it?"

Now, Marinette had some experience by this point in telling prospective clients that the dolls weren't for sale in an amiable and professional manner that left open the possibility that they would buy something else. She could be a mature young adult when she wanted to be. But, nobody had actually shown that much interest in the Chat Noir doll before. Most focused on the Ladybug, a few showed interest in the akumas, but most only showed passing interest in Ladybug's 'sidekick.'

The rational thing would have been to explain to Adrien that the dolls weren't for sale. The flirty thing would have been to offer to make one just for him. The friendly thing would have been to give it to him for free and make another for herself.

Marinette didn't do any of those things.

Instead, she ripped the doll from his hands and clutched it to her chest, "You can't have it, it's mine!"

 _Whoops._ She was pretty sure her blush had spread to her entire body as Adrien looked at her like she had grown two heads.

"Uh, you. . . you must really like Chat Noir."

Marinette choked on her own spit, but at least if she died she wouldn't have to deal with the fallout from her little outburst. She wheezed for breath and, for the first time, didn't stutter even though she was looking Adrien dead in the eye, "I will give you the Ladybug one for free if you never mention this to anyone."

* * *

Chat Noir showed up in her room that night with a spring in his step and a ridiculous smile on his face. He seemed to be half a second from bursting into laughter whenever he so much as looked at her. Marinette glowered at him but did her best to ignore his weirdness. Chat was weird, that was just something she'd had to accept over the years.

Then he noticed his tiny, plush replica on her bed where she'd haphazardly thrown it after getting home from the fundraiser.

"What's this?" he asked innocently as he grabbed it and made it dance in the air.

Marinette refused to reply. He knew damn well that she had made a doll of him years ago. He also knew she had made one of Ladybug, and of several akumas. He wasn't special! And he knew it!

"Where's the Ladybug one?" he continued to needle at her patience.

"I gave it to a friend," she ground out.

"Oh, that was nice of you," he was quiet for a moment and she thought that would be the end of it. But of course it wasn't. "But not the Chat Noir doll? They're kind of a package deal, you know."

Marinette blushed but didn't say a word. He didn't _know_ he was talking about her, of course. He didn't _know_ that he was saying there was no him without her.

"Do you always keep it on your bed?" he asked her unresponsive form. She realized his grin spelled trouble, but didn't understand just how much until he continued speaking. "Do you like sleeping with me, Princess?"

Marinette threw him down to bother her parents. He was their kid, anyway.

* * *

 **A/N:** My parents come from a culture where haggling is how business is done, I was born in a culture where haggling is considered uncouth. I have no idea how it's done in France, so just take both.

Let me know what you liked, didn't like, and what could use improvement!

~ Destiny's Sweet Melody


	6. The Princess and the Cat

**A/N:** Will I ever be done embarrassing Marinette? Probably not.

* * *

 **Day Six:** _You carried me bridal style in one akuma attack and now Paris ships us together._ In which fandoms are fickle things.

* * *

 **Fire & Rain**

 **Six: The Princess and the Cat**

Marinette was good person. She was nice, well-mannered, and did her best to be kind to anyone she came across. Except for Chloé, but that was different. The universe might implode if they started being friendly with each other. She was also a superhero that saved the world on a weekly basis and she felt like that should balance out any of her more selfish, childish moments.

But, even without including her heroic alter ego, she liked to think she was a good person. It wasn't fair that she was gaining a reputation for causing akumas as frequently as Chloé did (lies and slander!). It wasn't in her ability to make sure she never hurt anybody's feelings. It wasn't her fault that she had fallen in love with Adrien years ago.

It was _completely_ unfair of Chat to be grinning at her as he blocked another attack from Short Fuse.

"What is this, the _third_ akuma that chases after you because of a crush?"

"Fourth," Marinette grumbled.

"My, aren't you the heartbreaker?"

She blushed at his teasing, but this time it wasn't about having a crush on her. Lamar, a boy two grades above her, had approached her and asked her for a date to the movies. She had smiled, told him she was flattered, and turned him down as gently as she could. It didn't go well. There was a _reason_ Hawk Moth had dubbed him Short Fuse.

Lamar had exploded, figuratively, yelling at her that she was ungrateful and she should be glad he even looked twice at her. When she made to walk away, he had gripped her arm tightly and she had smashed her fist against his nose without thinking. There was a satisfying crack and blood dripped onto his shirt. She had been feeling quite pleased as she walked away. . . right until he blew up again, literally.

"Shut up and help me escape," she answered instead. Marinette had been dodging exploding lacrosse balls (because _of course_ he was an athlete) for twenty minutes before Chat had showed up and started batting them away with his baton. She was exhausted, she couldn't take one more step, and worst of all she knew she would have to transform and turn right back around to stop the akuma.

"As you command, Princess," Chat threw over his shoulder before jumping towards her. She expected him to take her by the hand and lead her away. Instead, he leaned down to slip an arm around her knees and the other behind her back.

"Chat!" she squealed, her arms wrapping around his neck instinctively. "What are you doing?"

He bumped his forehead gently against hers and she felt warmth fill her cheeks. "It's faster this way, don't worry."

Why did her toes just curl? "Fine! Just hurry!"

Neither of them noticed a wide-eyed Alya recording the entire exchange as he leapt away.

* * *

It took thirty seconds after she dropped her transformation for her phone to start ringing. Marinette stared curiously at Alya's name on her phone's screen. Usually, the blogger would take an hour or two after akuma attacks to add updates to the Ladyblog and watch over any discussions that developed on the message boards.

Shrugging (she was probably worried since Marinette was the target), she answered the phone and then winced when her best friend shrieked through the phone, "What the _hell_ was that?"

"Alya?" she questioned weakly. "I didn't mean to cause an akuma."

"Who cares about the akuma?" Alya was still screaming, and there was a weird whooshing sound that made Marinette think she was jumping in place. "I meant whatever was going on between you and Chat Noir!"

Marinette froze mid-step, all thoughts of going home banished as her mind blanked. "What? There was nothing! He saved me, that's all!"

"You seemed kind of familiar, is all," Alya's voice was disbelieving.

"He's saved me before," Marinette spluttered. The last thing she needed was for people to figure out that they watched Turkish dramas together because they couldn't keep from bantering! "Maybe he remembered me."

"Girl, no," the brunette huffed. "I mean, you seemed _familiar_ with each other."

It took three whole seconds for the blue eyed girl to understand what she meant. "What? No! Alya, no! There's nothing going on between me and Chat Noir! I barely know him!"

Maybe she should tell the blogger about her parents 'adopting' Chat, if only to explain their familiarity with each other. There were shared parents between them, not any _thing_ like Alya seemed to believe.

"Well, that's not what everybody else is saying."

"You posted that?"

"I was livestreaming," at least she sounded apologetic. "And since he hopped away with you in his arms, the message boards have been blowing up. Your new name is Chat Noir's Princess, by the way."

Marinette's free hand flew to her hair and she squealed.

* * *

Marinette had actually never been much for shipping. Alya had been surprised by it, considering how passionate she was about love, but she had never found any ship or fandom that could really grab her attention in the way necessary to really 'ship it.' What little she understood about shipping included the unmoving devotion to the ship of choice of any particular person. She had thought 'LadyNoir', as it was so lovingly called (she was somewhat convinced Alya had come up with it), was the ship of choice for most of Paris. She thought nothing could disturb an OTP once it had been settled on.

She had been so, so wrong.

'PrincessChat' was surprisingly popular despite having only existed for about five hours. Marinette clutched her burning cheeks as she read through the comments on the Ladyblog. The worst part was that someone had taken a screenshot of the moment Chat had bumped his head against hers. They were looking into each other's eyes, a soft smile on his lips, and a light blush on her cheeks.

Oh God, it _did_ look like there was something going on between them!

She let her forehead drop against the desk, throwing her hands over the back of her head. This was so embarrassing! How long would it take before her parents heard about it? How long would it take before somebody identified her as Marinette? How long was her heart going to keep beating like she was running a marathon?

It wasn't surprising that Chat Noir didn't show up in her room that night.

It was surprising how much she missed him.

* * *

 **A/N:** In-universe, I think MariChat would be like Lukanette out of universe: it probably won't go anywhere, but damn it's cute. So, all the shippyness!

Please excuse the lazy ship name, I find it unlikely anybody that lurks the Ladyblog would know Marinette's name (Alya wouldn't expose her bestie like that and of course Adrien would stay _far away_ from anything MariChat related), so it would probably take some time for her name to be made public. By that point, the ship name would probably have been decided already.

As always, let me know what you liked, didn't like, and what could use improvement!

~ Destiny's Sweet Melody


	7. Warrior Princess

**A/N: Warning** for a slight description of violence. Also, I legit just wanted an excuse to have Marinette traipse over Chat's baton.

 **To CeceTheFandomQue:** Why not all three? lol, thanks for reviewing!

* * *

 **Day Seven:** _Mari protects Chat._ In which Marinette is not the best at staying out of the spotlight.

* * *

 **Fire & Rain**

 **Seven: Warrior Princess**

Marinette had entered a fugue state, that was the only reason she could think of as to why she was doing what she was doing. It was a state she had been slipping into often for the past week. Her mind must have been in a different realm than the rest of her body when she copied and printed the screenshot of her and Chat. It was in the same binder she had tucked her Adrien posters in.

She had forced herself into a different plane of existence when her parents had actually teased her about PrincessChat. "At least it answers the question on whether you're like siblings or not," her maman had smiled a disturbingly Chat-like grin. Ugh, sometimes it felt like _she_ was the adopted one!

At night, she found herself slipping into daydreams more and more often. It was always of the most mundane things, things she did every day, the only difference was that Chat was there to do them with her. It was only natural that she missed him, as she hadn't seen him since Short Fuse. Her parents missed him too, and she wanted to be angry with him _so badly_ , but all she could muster was melancholy.

Alya had noticed, of course, and invited her for an afternoon of ice cream and shopping. That was why she was with Alya when the akuma attacked. That was why she couldn't run away to transform, her best friend keeping a close eye on her to make sure she was safe. That was why they ended up running _towards_ the akuma instead of away, Alya's phone out and livestreaming everything. That was why she saw Chat Noir fighting the red-and-gold woman alone and be sent flying onto the roof of a three story building.

And that was why she ran into the building as Marinette, because she knew Ladybug wasn't going to save him. That and the fugue state.

She couldn't remember grabbing the fire extinguisher on her way up to the roof, but it seemed like a wise decision once she stepped out into the sunshine and felt waves of heat reach out to stroke her skin. Another fire based akuma! Why couldn't they have a nice flower based akuma? Or an akuma that just wanted to subtly annoy one specific person? Why did she, while wearing jeans and a tank top, have to face a woman with crimson skin, orange flaming hair, and burning coal for eyes?

It was certainly one of the scariest-looking akumas they had faced, definitely up there with Horrificator. But she couldn't let that show, especially not with the akuma so close to Chat.

"CinderElla?" she spat with more courage than she felt. "That's not even creative!"

"That's what I said," Chat mumbled dazedly.

When the akuma turned to face Marinette, she sprayed the foam from the extinguisher into her face. Without missing a beat, she pulled the extinguisher back and then swung the container straight into CinderElla's jaw. The akuma let out a gurgle of pain and her jaw hung awkwardly at an angle. Marinette gulped, feeling queasy at the sight, but swung again, this time at the akuma's stomach and with another gurgling groan, the woman fell backwards off the roof.

Marinette could feel her blood pounding in her ears, and her chest heaved as she breathed heavily. That was _so_ much worse when she wasn't wearing her miraculous armor. She startled when she heard Chat's voice.

"Marinette?" he asked as if he was just realizing who was helping him. "What are you doing here? What were you thinking?"

The designer huffed, letting the extinguisher fall to the floor with a clatter. "I think I was saving your life!"

Chat Noir made to stand and then fell back in a heap, reminding her suddenly of the day that had begun their strange friendship. It also drew her attention to the scorch mark on his leg, the leather peeling off from ankle to thigh.

She made to move towards him but stopped when he growled at her, "It's not your job to save me!"

 _Yes, it is!_ Ladybug was supposed to be there to watch his back, and she wasn't because Marinette was pouting over the fact he hadn't been around to annoy her for a week. He needed Ladybug, not Marinette, but she couldn't just transform here. If Marinette ran in and Ladybug swung out, at the very least, Alya would suspect something!

"You can't stop me from trying," she said as gently as she could. "You're my friend, if you're in danger, I will try to save you."

Chat watched her with wide eyes as she approached, as if he couldn't believe she would call him a friend. Sure, he could call her parents his own, but calling her a friend, that was too much.

"I have an idea," Marinette explained as she kneeled down beside him. "I heard the akuma say that Ladybug was trapped in the next building over."

"Really?"

"I was here a lot longer than you, Kitty," she insisted with an air of certainty. "Extend your baton over to the roof over there."

Chat painfully shifted to do as she asked, "I can't cross over there."

"It's not for you," she stood up once he was done setting up the temporary bridge. "I'll go free her, and then I promise I'll get away."

"What? No!" he spluttered. "You can't cross over this!"

"It's just like eight feet, tops. That's not that long to keep balanced."

"I've seen you trip over _air_ , Marinette!"

She huffed angrily, despite knowing he was right. Whatever, she was lucky when it counted most, wasn't she? She was confident she wouldn't fall. "One of us has to go and you can't even stand. Just let me help you."

Marinette took an uneasy step onto the baton before he could say anything else. She regretted her plan immediately, but did her best to keep her eyes ahead of her and her feet from slipping. She was almost there, only three steps away from the opposite roof, when a shriek rang through the air.

"Marinette! What are you doing?"

Alya's cry made her tense up which threw her off balance. Windmilling her arms, she lunged forward, her stomach landing on the edge of the roof as she scrambled for purchase with her hands.

"Marinette!" Chat shouted as well.

Marinette's face was red from exertion and embarrassment. "Stop yelling my name while she's livestreaming this!"

She couldn't actually see her two friends, but she knew Alya well enough to know that her concern would not overpower her desire to document everything hero related. Yet, she didn't doubt that Alya had been the one using her control over the Ladyblog message boards to keep Marinette's name out of the general public's knowledge. And now, that was over.

"Sorry, Princess!" Chat called over to her and she growled.

"That's even worse!" She kicked against the wall and used all her strength to pull herself onto the roof. Her legs were shaking but she forced herself to stand and turn to face Alya and her phone. " _He_ likes Ladybug. And _I_ like A- er, somebody else!" She stopped herself from confessing her feelings to the internet. Even if she was still planning on confessing before the school year was over, and it was certainly one way to do it but, dear God, don't let it be by mistake! "Yes, we know each other, but we are just friends!"

With a final huff, she turned towards the door leading into the building and ran in. It was time to save her partner and the world.

* * *

Marinette had thought that would be the end of 'PrincessChat'. What better way to get people over it, than by telling them point blank that it wasn't real? Apparently, that wasn't how shipping worked. Apparently, Marinette was in denial. Apparently, Chat Noir obviously cared a great deal for her. Apparently, she was brave enough to be a worthy girlfriend to a superhero.

Apparently, she was just going to have to live with being known as Chat Noir's Princess for the rest of her life.

Geez, she hoped this wouldn't affect her chances with Adrien.

Her parents hadn't been pleased with her decision to jump into an akuma attack, even if it _had_ been to save their 'son-in-law', but at least Chat had decided to drop by that night and had to share their chastisement with her.

At least she knew he was going to stick around.

* * *

 **A/N:** No offense to shippers, considering that I AM one (lol). Marinette's just grumpy because people are trying to decide her feelings/future for her.

As always, let me know what you liked, didn't like, and what could use improvement!

~ Destiny's Sweet Melody


	8. Green Eyed Babies

**A/N:** I find it hilarious that Marinette wants a cat but then decides she doesn't in the first episode, and I can only assume it was because she was working with Chat Noir.

 **To Guest:** Thank you, I'm glad you liked it!

 **To CeceTheFandomQue:** I know! Marinette getting to be a badass in civilian forms is one of my favorite things. And the two of them being completely relaxed around each other in these forms gives more chances for adorable interactions.

 **Thanks to everyone** that has added this story to their alerts and/or favorites! You give me life!

* * *

 **Day Eight:** _Kitty Kisses._ In which Chat Noir is territorial and Marinette is a little confused.

* * *

 **Fire & Rain**

 **Eight: Green Eyed Babies**

Marinette had always wanted a pet (or two or three), but had accepted long ago that she wouldn't be able to have one (or three) until she moved out on her own. In order, she wanted a hamster, a dog, and a cat. Except being stuck with a catlike partner, that sometimes acted more like a cat than a boy, sort of stole her wish to have a pet cat of her own from her.

They were still cute, though. Much cuter than her partner. Especially when they were tiny kittens that could barely meow at her when she accidentally kicked the box they were hiding out in.

When Marinette laid eyes on the grey furred kitten that seemed to have made its home in the alley beside her parents' bakery, she fell in love. Despite knowing that her parents would never accept a cat that couldn't control his own grooming, and that she was at least three years away from moving out on her own, she fell in love.

The course of true love never did run smooth.

She thought she was quite sneaky, feeding him milk and kibbles before class and after dinner, knitting a tiny coat for him, and playing with him every afternoon. Her parents were none the wiser. She had managed to keep from telling Alya. Tikki was the only one that knew, and she cooed over the kitten just as much as Marinette.

She _thought_ she could get away with having an outdoor pet, until Chat Noir dropped in one night.

"Good evening, Prin-" his body physically stopped at the same time his words did. His lips thinned and he narrowed his eyes at her.

Why was he being weird _now_? "What?"

Chat walked quickly towards her and leaned his face close to hers until their noses practically brushed. His eyes were still narrowed.

"What - what are you doing?" she stuttered, heart beating quickly in her chest.

He didn't seem to notice her tone, instead leaning even closer, forcing her to lean back until she was practically lying on her chaise lounge. Chat hovered over her, eyes intense. "You. . . have you been with someone recently?"

Marinette's jaw dropped open, and her hand was flying to his cheek before she could think of what she doing. "How dare you?" She was on her feet, fists clenched, towering over him as he sat on the floor, a hand on his bruised cheek.

His eyes widened suddenly, as if he had just realized what it was he had said. "Wait, I didn't mean -"

"It's none of your business if I've _been_ with someone," she spoke over him. "And you don't have any kind of right to ask me that question!"

"I know, I didn't mean it like that! I just meant you smelled weird."

Marinette's mind whited out for a moment, and the next thing she knew she was screaming profanities on her balcony as Chat Noir ran across rooftops like a pack of wild dogs were chasing him.

* * *

Fortunately, she had more peace with her gray cat than the black one. After dealing with a dark cloud hovering over her all throughout the school day and Alya teasing her about having a lover's spat with Chat (since she couldn't deny that she'd had a spat with him), the only thing to bring a smile to her face were the kitten's bright green eyes. When she went to feed him after her own dinner, she decided to stay and play with him for as long as she could get away with.

"Hello, Bebek," she reached out a hand and giggled when he pounced on it, nibbling on her thumb. "Who's the cutest kitty in Paris?"

"Me," a voice said into her ear and she fell onto her backside with a shriek. Chat Noir blinked at her from where he was crouched down beside her.

"Chat Noir, what do you think you're doing sneaking around? You almost gave me a heart attack!"

"Sorry, Princess," he smiled in a way that implied the opposite. "I was just wondering what you were doing kneeling in a dark alley."

She glared at him and gathered the kitten into her arms.

Chat narrowed his eyes at the action, all but forgetting her as he postured at the small fluff ball. "By the way," he said quietly. "That's what I smelled."

Marinette cocked her head, trying to figure out what he was talking about and then felt her mouth fall open when she understood. "Are you saying you accused me of being with an actual cat?"

"I said that I didn't mean it that way!" he insisted, the barest hint of a blush peeking from under his mask. "That's just how it came out." Without taking his eyes off the kitten he continued, "You need to get rid of it."

She twisted her body to keep the grey cat away from his line of sight and he sat up, his tail twitching angrily and actually _baring his teeth!_ "You stay away from Bebek!"

"Bebek? Really? You named it _baby_?"

Marinette frowned at the incredulity in his tone. "Yes, I did. So what?"

Chat leaned forward but this time she held her ground. At least, until he spoke. "He is not yours, I am."

Bebek almost fell from her arms when the strength seemed to leave them.

Chat jolted back, eyes wide and more human than cat for the first time since their conversation started. "That's not - I just meant, you can't just bring another cat into the home willy-nilly! This is a one cat home, and I am that one cat."

Well, she supposed that was true. "I can't just abandon him!"

"I'll help you find him a home," he offered flatly.

* * *

Turned out that when a cat based hero went out to look for someone willing to adopt a cat, he found them within two days. The home he found for Bebek was a small apartment owned by a grocery clerk, a nanny, and their eight year old son. They were a loving family and kind and the son seemed as enamored by Bebek as Marinette was. She did her best to not cry as she handed the kitten over to the young boy.

Knowing that the boy would not like the name Bebek, she asked what name he would give him, only to blush as the boy explained, "Prince, because he's the baby of Chat Noir and his Princess."

At least she was so embarrassed she didn't linger in agony as she left her first ever pet behind.

Back in her room, Chat Noir still insisted on acting weird. He paced her room agitatedly until he finally settled behind her with a huff. Marinette tensed as he placed his legs on each side of hers and wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her flush against him.

"What are you doing _now_?" She did her best to sound exasperated instead of breathy.

"Marking my territory," he answered easily.

"If you pee on me, I'm pushing you off the balcony!"

"That is dogs," he primly corrected, sounding genuinely insulted. "I am scent marking you."

Marinette wasn't sure what that meant, and she tried her best to just go with it when he started rubbing his cheek against her back.

* * *

 **A/N:** PrincessChat will never die! A kitten can survive being separated from their mother at 9 weeks, but shouldn't be until at least 12 weeks. They also can't make a "real" meow until they're fully grown at around 10-14 months, depending on breed. Bebek/Prince is around 10-12 weeks.

 **Bebek is Turkish for baby** , and Chat recognizes the word from watching _Magnificent Century_. Spoiler: babies are important on that show.

Let me know what you liked, didn't like, and what could use improvement!

~ Destiny's Sweet Melody


	9. It's Not the Same

**A/N:** I had a completely different idea for this day, but then this happened.

* * *

 **Day Nine:** _Belt tail._ In which Chat doesn't know the meaning of words, and Marinette is done with everything.

* * *

 **Fire & Rain**

 **Nine: It's Not the Same**

The first time it happened, Marinette did not for one moment believe that it was accidental. They - that is, her parents, Chat, and herself - were having dinner and everything was weirdly calm. She had felt something flicking around her ankle throughout the meal, but figured it was a fly and would simply kick at it until it stopped. It wasn't until she stood to collect the dishes to take to the sink that she realized it wasn't a fly.

When she took a step away from the table, she felt a tug on her ankle and suddenly found herself sprawled on the ground. The dishes were thankfully shatter resistant since it wasn't the first time she tripped while trying to be helpful, but this time it was _not her fault!_

Her eyes narrowed at the tail-like belt wrapped securely around her ankle, "Why did you do that?"

Chat panicked and pulled his tail away, "Sorry, it was an accident!"

Marinette, of course, didn't believe him, but her parents - the traitors - made her accept that it was an accident because really, Marinette, it's not like you know how magical superpowered armor works, is it? (It takes all her willpower to not insist that she _does_ and _her_ armor doesn't make her _accidentally_ trip people like a big meanie!)

The second time it was a little more believable that it's an accident. They were sitting on her chaise, practically squished together, watching the second season of _Magnificent Century_ when his tail curled against her side. It was an unconscious movement, he was completely engrossed in the show, and she had seen his tail flick around almost wildly enough times that she doesn't even bring it up. It's not annoying or anything.

The third time it happened, however, it was impossible to ignore. She couldn't even remember why she had gotten up from where they were sitting on her balcony (to get drinks or cookies or something), only that she'd had to dislodge Chat's weight off her side. She'd giggled at his displeased grumbling, right up until his tail shot up to wrap around her wrist and pull her back down to the ground.

She shrieked and then grunted when she landed on her hip. Glaring at him, she tried to pull her wrist away, only for the belt to tighten around it.

"Why are you doing this?" she demanded, fingernails trying to dig under the leather. Part of her wanted to hit him, but she forced herself to focus on the task at hand.

"Sorry, sorry, sorry!" His voice sounded panicked and she finally _looked_ at him and saw that he really did seem confused. "I don't know why it's happening."

"It's _your_ tail," she reminded him angrily. Ladybug's outfit may not have any extra limbs, but it never made her _do_ anything.

"Only technically," he insisted. "I think it might be my kwa- er, the thing that gives me my powers. He's been saying weird things, and I think he might just be doing it to be annoying."

Marinette would have been angry that he was revealing so much about the miraculous to an assumed civilian, except (despite knowing exactly what a kwami was) she couldn't make sense of what he was saying. Tikki never did anything to control her limbs while transformed either, "What?"

Chat seemed to be blushing beneath his mask, and let out a breath that may have been intended to be a laugh, "I think it might be anthropomorphic."

He seemed to shrink under her withering glare. "It has humanlike qualities?"

"What?" he was visibly confused by her words.

"That's what anthropomorphic _means_! Is your tail its own person?"

"Oh," he huffed. "I meant that it could be used to do things independently of the rest of my limbs."

"That's prehensile!" Why were they having a vocabulary lesson while his tail was still tightly wound around her wrist?

"Oh," Chat repeated. "Well, it's sort of the same thing."

"It is not! And make it let me go!"

The blond looked down at his tail helplessly, "It just doesn't want you to go."

There was a moment of silence where neither of them knew how to react to the admission. Marinette had a hard time believing that his _tail_ (or kwami, whatever) was the one that was being so clingy with her. But she wasn't sure how she felt about her partner being the one that was doing so either.

Then Chat spoke, "I think he has a crush on you."

* * *

 **A/N:** This is the shortest chapter yet, but it's actually the length I was hoping for all the chapters to be, because my head genuinely feels like it might explode soon. Ugh!

I don't think Chat's tail is prehensile, especially since cats don't have even partially prehensile tails, but I can dig it. Also, comedy.

And, **in case it's not clear** , the "weird things" Plagg has been saying to Adrien is basically implying that he (Adrien) has a crush on Marinette, and that's why at the end Chat says that he (Plagg) has the crush. In my mind, Plagg, the little shit that he is, added the tail's ability to react to Chat's emotions just to mess with him/force him to accept his feelings.

As always, please tell me what you liked, didn't like, and what could use improvement!

~ Destiny's Sweet Melody


	10. For Science

**A/N:** I 100% accept the headcanon that the Ladybug miraculous gives Marinette a better than average green thumb.

 **Small warning** for stimulant use, even though it's all natural and not used maliciously, it's still technically one character drugging another.

* * *

 **Day Ten:** _Catnip._ In which Marinette tries to pull a prank and it backfires.

* * *

 **Fire & Rain**

 **Ten: For Science**

Gardening had always been a favored hobby of Marinette's, and since becoming Ladybug she had started to appreciate it even more. It was soothing and methodical and she had, quite suddenly, become very good at it. While at the start of her little rooftop garden, she had trouble keeping anything but the hardiest of plants (aloe and mint) alive, now it seemed like she couldn't so much as drop a leaf into a pot without it taking root.

She was as proud of her plants as she was of her designs, even though only a few people ever saw them.

Every once in a while, she set aside a bit of money to buy a new plant for her garden, and though she had been aiming for a batch of ranunculus, when she got to the gardening store, she found herself drawn to an entirely different sort of plant.

Even as she paid for the seedlings, Marinette told herself that she was in no way being a mean person. She was just _curious_ is all. Chat Noir had so many cat tendencies, while Ladybug just had her strangely blessed garden, that she wondered just how catlike he really was. It was a completely impartial, scientific endeavor that led her to buy the catnip. It had absolutely nothing to do with the fact that she wondered what Chat would be like while under the influence of a stimulant.

Not at all.

Okay, fine, she was a jerk, so sue her. Chat had teased her and played enough pranks on her to make it more than fair. It's not like anybody other than her would know.

Marinette was careful in her planning. She hid the catnip plant amongst her other plants so that Chat would not notice it until it was grown enough that she could put her plan into motion. It took a bit of research (she needed to be sure there wasn't any way she could _actually_ hurt him, after all), but it was simple enough to wait until it grew to eight inches and then cut and ground a few stems to dust.

Fresh catnip would have worked just as well, but since the intention was to see how catlike he could be, she decided to stuff the catnip powder into a little fleece ball she had stitched.

Then it was just a matter of waiting. She couldn't do it when he got there early enough to interact with her parents (she would be grounded, because Chat was obviously the favorite), and on days he got there too late, she didn't want to interrupt _Magnificent Century_ viewing just for a prank (each episode was at least an hour and fifteen minutes long, and could sometimes be up to two hours, if they ever wanted to finish the series, they couldn't waste a single moment).

The perfect moment came so suddenly, she almost let it pass her by. Chat had dropped by early for a family dinner, only to find her parents busy in the bakery working on pastries for a catering event the next day. Marinette had helped throughout the afternoon, frosting cupcakes and transporting cookie dough into the oven, but had been released so that she could focus on her schoolwork and order pizza for dinner.

The blond somehow seemed both delighted at the greasy treat and worried that it would destroy his physique. It took twenty minutes just to convince him to eat more than a single slice - that was hardly a meal!

They settled in to watch the third season, Marinette practically vibrating with excitement ("Mihrimah's my favorite!" she declared as the blonde girl took up the screen), and she was so into it that she forgot her scheme. At least she did until his tail wrapped around her waist as it usually did these days when it was just the two of them.

She cleared her throat and tapped his belt tail with her forefinger, "I have to go get something."

He was getting better at controlling his extra limb (which sort of negated his claim that it was all his kwami's doing), and after startling at the realization that his tail was around her _again_ , it slipped easily off her waist.

Barely containing her laughter, Marinette pulled the ball of catnip from her sewing box where she had hidden it.

"Hey Chat," she called, and smiled wickedly when he blinked innocently up at her. "Catch!"

He caught it almost unthinkingly, hand fisting around it before bringing it close to his face, curious to see what it was. Confusion marred his face right before his nostrils flared as he took a deep breath. She caught a peek of his slitted pupils dilating widely right before he fell to the ground in a heap.

"Chat!" Marinette shrieked, running to kneel at his side. What happened? She thought he would just act a little more hyper than usual, not _collapse!_

Oh God, what if he was allergic to catnip? It seemed absurd for a cat-based hero to be allergic to catnip, but he was allergic to feathers, wasn't he? Cats loved attacking pigeons, but he had barely been able to endure a fight with Mr. Pigeon. What if his human self was allergic to catnip? She had never seen a violent allergic reaction before!

What if he was dying? What if she had killed him? What if. . .

Wait, was he purring?

"Chat?" Marinette questioned, voice small and worried.

Chat didn't seem to hear her, only wriggled on the floor towards her and threw an arm around her waist. She muffled a shout when his head followed the movement. That was his _face_ snuggling into her _lap_ and _why_ wasn't she pushing him off? Her hands fluttered uselessly as she made to move him off of her, only to abort the movement when he started purring more loudly. His other hand was clenching and unclenching around the plush ball.

Was this the catnip?

Marinette opened her mouth to say something, only to shut it closed. Well, it _was_ her fault this was happening, and it wasn't the worst feeling in the world. With a sigh she decided to let him stay cuddled on her lap. The effects would only last about fifteen minutes, after all.

* * *

 **A/N:** So, only fifty percent of cats actually react to catnip, but you know, comedy. Also, although pop culture has cats acting like they're on crack when in contact with catnip, for some it acts as a sedative. And, you know, romance.

Please review and let me know what you liked, didn't like, and what you thought could use improvement!

~ Destiny's Sweet Melody


	11. Autograph

**A/N:** Have you ever known exactly what you want to write - like word for word - but just can't make yourself type it? Ugh, please don't let me burn out before we're even halfway through the month!

 **Thank you to everyone** who has added this story to their alerts/favorites!

* * *

 **Day Eleven:** _Are you. . . doodling Chat Noir?_ In which Marinette's tried and true method of distraction betrays her, and no one will ever let her live it down.

* * *

 **Fire & Rain**

 **Eleven: Autograph**

The catnip thing was probably not Marinette's best idea. It was probably karmic justice that _she_ was the one most affected by it. Chat had laughed - a little awkwardly, but mostly genuinely - when he figured out what she had done. He didn't mention the whole cuddling thing, and neither did she, and even though there was a conspicuous amount of space between them as they finished off the episode of _Magnificent Century_ , there wasn't anything weird about it.

Chat Noir had smiled and saluted as he hopped away from her balcony as he always did.

Marinette had lain awake most of the night, wondering why she had felt so off-kilter since the moment Chat lifted his weight from her body.

It didn't get much better the next day. She couldn't really escape thinking about Chat Noir when her best friend, who sat next to her in all her classes, was constantly thinking about and discussing Paris' superheroes. Sure, Alya preferred Ladybug ("It's called the _Lady_ blog for a reason, Marinette!"), and most of her theories and daydreams focused on the bug, but every once in a while, the blogger went through a Chat Noir phase.

It was just Marinette's luck that she was going through one _now_ (the black cat's mojo must be rubbing off on her). Probably due to the fact that she was still certain that Marinette had a _thing_ going on with Chat, no matter how many times the designer insisted she didn't. Honestly, what was the point of the internet being forever if nobody actually listened to what you said on it?

Having had enough of Alya's harebrained theories on Chat's identity and how they could get him to reveal it ( _No_ , he would not drop his transformation just because she said 'pretty please!'), she turned her attention to the blank sheet of paper before her. Or, her un-attention, more like.

Marinette allowed her pencil to glide over the paper without any specific goal in mind. Whenever her thoughts got too hectic, she had found that mindless doodling was the perfect way to calm herself down. It usually ended up being illegible scribbles, but occasionally, she ended up creating some of her best designs. (Okay, that had only happened like _once_ , but still!)

The point was, it was mind-numbing and relaxing and she didn't have to think about Chat Noir at all.

At least, she didn't until Alya intoned, "Are you doodling Chat Noir?"

Marinette jolted from her trance-like state, her hand twitching and smudging the tip of a sharp claw. And. . . yep, that was definitely Chat Noir. _Why brain?_

She wanted to _not_ think about him! Not think about him so intently that she drew a detailed portrait of him crouched on her balcony, saluting the viewer with a roguish smile on his face. She was pretty sure Chat didn't even _have_ a roguish smile! Those were for _attractive_ men, not giant dorks.

Blushing, she threw her hands over the paper, "No?"

With a devious smile, Alya yanked the paper out from under her guard. Marinette was torn between lamenting the fact that it didn't rip, and feeling relieved that it didn't (It was a good drawing, don't judge her). "Ooh, this is nice!"

"Alya, we are in class!" Marinette hissed, face blazing red. For all her enthusiasm, Alya was sensible enough to keep her voice down to a level the teacher could choose to ignore, and so the only ones that so much as looked at them were those seated closest to them. Unfortunately, that included Adrien.

"Don't you think this is totally awesome?" Alya shoved the picture towards her boyfriend and his best friend. Nino turned in his seat to fawn over it, and Adrien. . . wait, was he _blushing?_

Why would he be blushing? Unless. . . oh God, did he have a crush on Chat Noir? That would be _way worse_ than any luck that she deserved! Taking the page back, she tucked it away into her bag with a huff. She never wanted to think about that stupid cat ever again!

* * *

Her resolve lasted until she got home and picked her books out of her bag. Somehow, she found herself smoothing out any wrinkles on the page and placing it on her desk, in plain view of anybody that walked by. Not that she had to worry about that, since no one came into her room without her permission and Chat never dropped by two days in a row.

"Evening, Princess."

Okay, seriously, what was with her luck? Did she break a mirror? Walk under a dozen ladders? Knock over a gallon of salt?

"Hi, Chat," she sighed, not even bothering to hide his portrait. Why would she? The universe was obviously intent on humiliating her!

"Oh my, what's this?" Of course he zeroed in on the picture immediately. Sauntering over to the desk with a cheesy grin, he picked the paper up to admire it. "Who _is_ this handsome cat?"

"I have no idea," she deadpanned.

Chat snickered and turned the paper towards her, holding it up next to his face. "Is this how you really see me?"

Was it? It was certainly an accurate depiction, but it was also. . . flattering, somehow. It was mostly that stupid smile, probably. And she had been right, he _didn't_ have a roguish smile, he had an overlarge, too eager grin. It still caused _something_ to lurch uneasily in the pit of her stomach.

She shifted on her feet and gritted her teeth, unsure of how to answer. His grin slowly dropped as he finally seemed to realize he was making her uncomfortable, and he rubbed the back of his head.

"It's really nice," he offered awkwardly and she barely managed to mumble 'thanks'. "Can I keep it? I mean, since you don't want it."

"Who said I didn't want it?" She wasn't sure why, she couldn't even say she worked hard on it, but she felt attached to it.

"Oh, I just thought. . ." he floundered for words and, eager to ignore the fact that she found his awkwardness adorable, she said the first thing that came to her mind.

"Can I have your autograph?"

Chat seemed genuinely surprised that she would ask such a thing, but then a blinding smile appeared on his face. "Yes, of course!"

* * *

Two days later, Marinette entered the bakery to find her signed sketch of Chat Noir hanging behind the register.

After a short screaming match - well, actually, it was more like Marinette shrieking nonsense between hyperventilating while her parents ignored her with knowing smiles - it was eventually decided that it would be taken down.

She decided to hang it on the far wall across from her bed. Only because the poster that had hung there before was conveniently the same size as the paper she had drawn on. It was not at all due to the fact that, since she slept on her side, it would be the first thing she saw every morning.

* * *

 **A/N:** Denial is not just a river in Egypt! Originally, Chat was supposed to ask _her_ for her autograph like he did as Adrien with the Jagged Stone CD, but then Marinette refused to part with the picture, and Chat doesn't get enough love in canon, so I figure he'd be thrilled somebody wants his autograph alone.

Will be doing another **double post on Sunday** because 12 hour shifts are terrible, and all I wanna do on Saturdays is sleep!

As always, drop a review and let me know what you liked, didn't like, and what could use improvement!

~ Destiny's Sweet Melody


	12. Hugs and Kisses

**A/N:** Have I mentioned how much I love the Dupain-Chengs? Because I do.

I legitimately forgot today was Mother's Day (where I'm at, at least), so the final editing/posting was done between work and "celebrating." Please excuse any mistakes!

* * *

 **Day Twelve:** _Touch starved_. In which Chat Noir does not have the _best_ family, but that is why he was adopted by The Best family.

* * *

 **Fire & Rain**

 **Twelve: Hugs and Kisses**

A long time ago, Marinette had realized that Chat Noir did not have the most affectionate of homes. It wasn't anything overt, and she was pretty sure he didn't have an abusive household, it was just in the way he reacted every time Ladybug praised him. And, okay, part of that might be his crush on her (she certainly felt like she had died and gone to heaven whenever Adrien so much as complimented her), but it wasn't just Ladybug.

He gushed whenever Alya asked him personally for an interview. He more than happily posed for whatever cameras were facing his way. He practically preened every time he saw his autograph on Marinette's wall. It was almost enough to make her want to take it down. Almost (not really).

Physical affection seemed to be another thing entirely. Chat would unashamedly take whatever physical contact he could get. From the moment he had leaned against her leg the first time she invited him into her room, he had taken that as a blanket permission to cuddle with her whenever he wanted. The fact that she had more or less accepted his tail occasionally wrapping around one of her limbs, only caused him to let his guard down even more.

She didn't really mind. Especially since he was careful to not cross any lines, tentatively reaching for her before cuddling into her side, as if afraid she might pull away or snap at him. She did her best to not wonder what would make him that fearful about something as usual as touch. Not because it was wondering about his civilian life, but because it was painful. Chat was such a happy, affectionate person, she couldn't imagine how stifled he felt in a life where he wasn't allowed to show it.

Marinette knew her parents were a little unusual. Not just when it came to adopting random heroic cat boys that happened to drop in on their daughter's room. She knew that most parents wouldn't trust their fifteen year old daughter with a boy in her room at odd hours of the night. She knew that most parents wouldn't put aside a certain amount of their earnings each month so their ten year old daughter could chase her dreams of becoming a fashion designer. She knew that they were a bit more affectionate than most.

Parents usually stopped hugging and kissing their children once they entered collége, maybe out of respect of their children 'growing up,' or maybe so that they would be _forced_ to grow up. But her parents never did. They still hugged her tight, pinched her cheeks, and treated her to the occasional tickle attack.

Occasionally, she would be annoyed by it, certain that she was too mature for such treatment. But she had learned to appreciate it as Ladybug, when there were times all she wanted was to be a little kid that didn't have to worry about the fate of the world again.

She learned to appreciate it even more when she realized just how much Chat Noir yearned for what she considered the norm.

His face would light up whenever Sabine would pinch his cheek. His grin would split his face whenever Tom ruffled his hair when he managed to beat her papa in video games. Even being chided after akuma attacks seemed to be a treat to him, since her maman would kiss his forehead and remind him he had to think about the people that loved him.

It was heartbreakingly lovely to see him smile like that.

Especially since it was obvious her parents had figured out his secret as well and were doing it all on purpose.

Especially since she felt like she could do more, but wasn't sure what.

Ladybug certainly couldn't be more affectionate! He would take it the wrong way, and she didn't want to get his hopes up just to have to crush them. And he was already as affectionate as he wanted to be with Marinette. He would throw his arm around her shoulders and his tail around her waist whenever he wanted and she never stopped him. She just. . . never initiated contact either.

Oh. . . well, that certainly was a problem. Not a _problem_ , but it would explain why he was still so uncertain about approaching her after literal months of spending time together. Did he really think she would push him away? Did he think she was just _enduring_ his touch? Was she hurting him the same way whoever it was that overtly rejected his affection did?

Well, damn.

* * *

"What's wrong?" Chat asked the next time he dropped by after her little revelation.

Marinette had been acting weird, she knew that. Usually she would let him do whatever he wanted while she focused on homework or designing or whatever she was working on until they could settle in for _Magnificent Century_ (they were about to start season four, they were in the home stretch now!). But now she stood awkwardly across from him, unsure of how to proceed.

Should she mention that she liked it when he touched her? No, that sounded wrong. Instead, maybe she could say that it was okay if he wanted to hug her. Then again, if he never brought it up, maybe he would be embarrassed that she thought he _needed_ it.

Should she. . . just do it?

Audibly gulping, she took three careful steps to close the distance between them. Slowly raising her shaking arms, she suddenly understood why he was so uncertain every time he approached her. She _knew_ he wouldn't turn her away, and yet she was scared. Closing her eyes, she pushed herself against him and wrapped her arms around his sides.

Without sight, she could feel his body tensing tightly, his heart beating wildly, and his breath come to a stop. Then he exhaled all at once and all but melted against her, his arms coming up to embrace her tight enough to bruise.

She wasn't sure how long they stayed like that, but when they finally settled on the floor to watch their show, she found herself sitting between his legs, her back against his chest, and his arms locked around her waist.

* * *

 **A/N:** There's barely any dialogue and that's AMAZING for me! I use dialogue like a crutch, to be honest. I feel like this chapter is a bit of a shift from the rest of the story, but I kinda like it.

I know that Gabriel will _occasionally_ show Adrien some actual affection, but the fact that we can name all such occasions is not a good sign. Not to mention that one of the running gags in the first season was that every time he thought he was going to see his dad, it was just Nathalie with a tablet.

Please hug your family (especially the younglings) if you can, everybody needs a hug and nobody's too old for one. Obviously don't if it makes them uncomfortable, but even the most no-touchy people reach a point where they could use a hug!

As always, let me know what you liked, didn't like, and what could use improvement!

~ Destiny's Sweet Melody


	13. Sweet Dreams

**A/N:** Have some mindless humor to make up for last chapter's feels.

* * *

 **Day Thirteen:** _Nightmare._ In which Marinette's brain continues to betray her.

* * *

 **Fire & Rain**

 **Thirteen: Sweet Dreams**

Marinette woke with her heart in her mouth and the vague recollection of something _horrifying_ happening right in front of her. Then she blinked and forgot what it was that scared her. That didn't calm her heartbeat, though.

It wasn't often that she had a nightmare. Her unconscious mind apparently decided that she had enough of otherworldly horrors in the daytime as Ladybug and let her rest at night. Every once in a while she'd have a bad dream, of course - showing up to class naked, running from zombies, or even Hawk Moth discovering her identity and attacking her loved ones - but it was rare enough to leave her unnerved whenever she had one.

They had never left her as off balance as this one either.

The worst part was that she couldn't even remember what it was about. Her maman had taught her to speak about her nightmares so that they wouldn't come true, but she didn't even know where to start. She trudged through her day with a feeling of _wrongness_ , but did her best to ignore it.

The next day she almost fell off her bed when she jolted away from. . . whatever she was trying to escape.

By the third day, she was developing bags under her eyes due to a combination of not wanting to fall asleep and being woken before dawn with jittering limbs and a dry mouth.

Everybody noticed, of course. It was hard not to walk around with her mouth in a thin line and an aura of aggressiveness (Alya called it "back the hell off vibes") when running on coffee and three hours of sleep. Marinette was known as such a positive and upbeat person, that the change in mood was quickly made note of. Not even Chloé bothered to make any comments on her messy hair and pale skin.

Her parents were the only ones that actually asked what was wrong (she got the feeling everybody in class was too scared), but they couldn't do anything to help her. Her papa offered to buy her sleeping pills to help her get through the night, but she didn't want to risk oversleeping more than she usually did, and she tended to pull all-nighters more often than not when it came to schoolwork anyway. She just needed to outlast it, she was sure. Or at least _remember_ what she was dreaming of so she could confront it (or get over it. Past it. Whatever).

Chat had blinked at her when she told him what had her 'so grumpy.'

"Bad dreams?"

Was it really so surprising that she would have a nightmare? "Yeah, for about a week now."

A week of waking up with such a feeling of wrongness that she wanted to leap out of her bed. At least it was the weekend and she could sleep till noon the next day.

"Want to talk about it?" he offered carefully, obviously unsure of how to help somebody who was being hounded by their own mind.

"I'd love to, but I can't even remember what it's about," she explained airily, all but accepting sleep deprivation as her new natural state. "I can sort of remember that it's the same thing - more or less - every night, but once I wake up, it fades completely."

The leather cat ears on top of Chat's head twitched curiously and there was something about it that gave her such a feeling of déjà vu that her brain stopped working for a second. She glared at the appendages.

"What?" he asked curiously but she ignored him.

There was _something_ about those ears that made her heart beat faster. It wouldn't be the first time she had a nightmare concerning her partner - her overeager, foolhardy, borderline suicidal partner - being in danger or even outright dying (Thank you for the memory of him fading into nothingness in her arms, Timebreaker), but this was different. She was pretty sure he wasn't dying in her dreams. But he was certainly in them.

And so were those ears!

"Hey, those are attached to my head!" Chat complained when she grabbed onto one and pulled it down to her eye level. At least they were sitting on the floor of her room, so he didn't have to hunch over much, just bow his head. Not that she was giving him much choice.

She huffed as she looked at the ears. There was nothing special about them - other than the fact that they were magically attached to a teenaged boy's head. She didn't _think_ she was dreaming about Chat being akumatized and attacking her, but the longer she stared, the more her blood rushed through her veins.

Unthinkingly, she rubbed her thumbs against the back of them and Chat pulled out of her grip as if she had dug her nails in. "Oh," she suddenly realized how invasive she was being. "I'm sorry, did I hurt you?"

Chat's gloved hands were over his cat ears, lips pursed as he stared at her with wide eyes. "N- not hurt, no."

"Sorry anyway," she repeated. "I just think you're in my nightmare."

"Gee, thanks."

"I didn't mean it like _that_ ," Marinette insisted, even though she couldn't be sure. "Maybe all of Maman's worries are rubbing off on me."

The recitation of the extensive list of Dumb Things Chat Did Today was practically a weekly thing, and she had been there for every single reading. Even though she had been there to see it live as Ladybug, it was easy enough to forget just how breakable Chat really was when adrenaline and relief at a job well done was flowing through her.

Chat gave her a dopey grin and then leaned over to place his head on her lap, "Aww, you really _do_ care."

Marinette rolled her eyes, but didn't deny his claim.

* * *

Marinette was pulled from sleep by someone tugging on her bangs. For a moment she thought it was Tikki, but then a small voice (though not as small as a kwami's) mumbled, "Maman."

Blinking tired eyes at the toddler girl standing beside her bed, she could see dark hair and green eyes and something moving behind the girl that she couldn't quite make out through her blurry vision. The dog, maybe. Giving up on full consciousness, she buried her face in the pillow.

"Emma, Maman's sleepy."

"But ya promise t' make cookies!" A pair of little hands grabbed onto her sleeve, and something else wrapped around her wrist.

Startled, she lifted her head to peek and was instantly awake when she saw the tiny (adorable) leather belt tail wrapped around her wrist. The belt tail attached to her daughter's lower back. The belt tail that matched the leather cat ears on top of her green eyed daughter's head.

Marinette opened her mouth to negate the truth that was staring her in the face, only to have her voice stick in her throat. Suddenly aware of a warmth at her back, Marinette slowly turned to see. . . oh God, that was Chat Noir sleeping beside her. In _her_ bed! Her _marriage_ bed! Because they were married and they had a (much too adorable for words) daughter!

Shrieking, she sat up in bed and realized. . . she was alone. She was fifteen. She was not married, and she most definitely did not have a daughter with catlike appendages! She was _not_ dreaming about being married with children with Chat Noir!

She opened her mouth to deny everything out loud, but what instead came out was, "That's not how genetics work!"

* * *

 **A/N:** I decided to not do angst despite the prompt being naturally angsty. Besides, Chat has his tail trying to tell him what he wants, so Marinette gets her sleeping mind.

Also, I sort of cheated since this scene is from my other (currently ongoing) MariChat fic, but there it's basically a throwaway line and I just wanted an excuse to write out the entire scene!

As always, let me know what you liked, didn't like, and what you thought could use improvement!

~ Destiny's Sweet Melody!


	14. Needle Sharp

**A/N:** A short addition, but it's mostly for the lulz, and the awkward romantic tension.

* * *

 **Day Fourteen:** _I told you it was a bad idea to do that._ In which Chat Noir doesn't like to be ignored, but he's going to have to learn to be more patient.

* * *

 **Fire & Rain**

 **Fourteen: Needle Sharp**

Chat Noir was what could affectionately be called _needy_. He adored attention; whether from news reporters asking after his latest heroic escapades, or from his adopted parents (who were finally happy with his weight and started sneaking him sweets), or from his friends. Especially from his friends. At least, it felt that way to Marinette.

She could usually endure most of his grabs for attention - spouting random trivia, gently tugging on her pigtails, and one time even placing his head on her lap and purring until she stopped designing and gave him her full attention - but she had very little patience for anything when she was bringing her designs to life. When she was stitching, she didn't like interrupting her flow, feeling like it would ruin the energy of the outfit.

Even if Adrien showed up and asked her out on a date while she was working, she would throw him out of her room! Okay, that was a lie, but she would be annoyed that he had such terrible timing.

So, it was only natural that she was annoyed when Chat dropped into her room and refused to leave even when she told him her parents would be more than happy to entertain him while she was busy. It was only fair that she was snappish when he insisted he would stay, but then couldn't even stay _quiet_ no matter how many times she asked him to let her concentrate.

It wasn't her fault that when he suddenly grabbed her shoulder, she reacted instinctively and jabbed her needle into his arm.

That didn't stop her from being horrified once she comprehended what she had done, when Chat yowled in pain and pulled away from her.

"Sorry," she cried, dropping her sewing utensils and approaching him, hands held up as if to prove she wouldn't injure him again.

"That hurt," he pouted, rubbing his arm.

"It did?" She couldn't help the surprise in her voice. She knew for a fact that whatever the miraculous armor looked like (leather or spandex or Rena's furry trim), it was actually made up of little hexagonal fractals that somehow (magic, she guessed) made their outfits all but impenetrable. Not fireproof, if CinderElla was any indication, but certainly stabbing resistant. Could the needle be thin enough to pierce the armor?

"Yes, it did! It's a _needle!_ "

Reaching for his arm, she ran her hand over the leather, trying to see if there actually _was_ a puncture mark. "I didn't think anything could really get through this."

Chat inhaled quickly and then coughed violently, seemingly choking on air, "It didn't! I was being dramatic! No need to worry!"

Marinette blinked up at him, surprised at his sudden change in attitude and even more at the blush that reached all the way to the tips of his ears. She suddenly became aware of how closely they were standing together, and that one of her hands was wrapped around his bicep, the other still unconsciously rubbing up and down.

Heat filled her face, and she pulled her hands back, "I told you it was a bad idea to distract me!"

Chat spluttered inelegantly, "How was I supposed to know you'd _attack_ me?"

"You surprised me!"

"So you stabbed me?"

Okay, it wasn't the best reaction to have, but she hadn't even thought while she was doing it. Marinette did her best to glare despite the fact that she could still feel herself blushing. At least he was still blushing too.

* * *

The next time Chat dropped by and she was working on something, he very wisely entertained himself on her computer. She huffed a laugh, as she finished with her knitting.

"Hey, Chat," she called and he looked at her suspiciously. She tossed the finished product at him and he caught it without missing a beat. Which was weird considering the whole catnip thing. It pleased her more than she was willing to admit that he trusted her as Marinette enough to not worry she might hurt him (again).

He blinked down at the small, wool kitten. "I made you a friend to entertain you while I'm working."

Chat was silent for a moment, and she worried he thought she was mocking him. It was mostly black, with the exception of its paws and a little spot at the crown of its head which were gold, with little jade-colored buttons for eyes. She hadn't _really_ meant to make it so Chat Noir-ish, it had just turned out that way!

The smallest smile she had ever seen him make - a fragile, emotional thing - appeared as he looked up at her, "Thank you, Princess."

* * *

 **A/N:** Genuine smiles don't have to be blinding! And Marinette's a mother hen, I will fight you on this.

Please review and let me know what you liked, didn't like, and what could use improvement!

~ Destiny's Sweet Melody!


	15. Grateful

**A/N:** I almost didn't get this done in time, because I had to do some last-minute work training thing. This is why I don't do NaNoWriMo, ugh!

* * *

 **Day Fifteen:** _Ridiculous romantic gestures._ In which Chat Noir doesn't seem to comprehend that grand gestures in movies are usually reserved for the Official Couple.

* * *

 **Fire & Rain**

 **Fifteen: Grateful**

A girl only turned sixteen once, and even though Marinette hadn't planned on having a giant, excessive, borderline obscene celebration ( _Chloé_ ), she had been looking forward to spending the day with her friends. With a delicious cake her parents poured all their love into. And maybe Chat. Well, it was probably too much to ask an actual superhero to make a guest appearance at her humble birthday party, but it didn't hurt to hope. There were times she wished she could know his civilian identity so that she wouldn't have to keep him so _separate_ from her everyday life, but she knew that was selfish and never thought on it long.

Not that it really mattered in the end.

Two days before her birthday, her parents received word that her paternal aunt in Nice had gotten into a car accident. They had no idea how bad it was and her papa was so worried that they decided to make the trip over to see her personally.

Marinette knew there were more important things than a (admittedly small) party, so she agreed to the trip without complaint. Out loud. On the inside, she was throwing the world's biggest tantrum and she was sure her parents could tell that she was displeased with the situation. She just really, really wanted to celebrate her birthday with her friends (especially Adrien)!

She felt guilty about her feelings, especially once she saw her aunt face to face. Luckily, the accident hadn't been too bad, but she had broken her leg and had stitches on her right cheek and couldn't possibly do all the little things people take for granted herself for the foreseeable future.

They stayed a full week (Marinette's studies took a back seat to family, at least for a little while) and it had been her aunt that insisted they celebrate Marinette's birthday any way they could. The four of them had gone to an Italian restaurant, and had their fill of delicious cuisine with gelato for dessert. It wasn't a party, and she couldn't pretend she didn't miss her friends, but it was nice and cozy and at the end she was grateful she spent her birthday with her aunt (nearly losing a family member sure makes you appreciate them more).

Alya had promised they'd get together and do _something_ to celebrate her birthday once she got back ("My mom can get us a discount at the hotel's restaurant, it'll be fancy!") , but it would still take a few days of back and forth before they could set up anything concrete.

Which was why Marinette was very confused when she climbed into her room and found herself unable to take another step due to the giant cluster of pink heart-shaped balloons filling the space. She couldn't see _anything_ except for the golden pieces of confetti covering her floor. Well, that was going to be hell to clean up.

Yeah, she was very, _very_ confused.

Pulling out her cell phone, she clicked on Alya's contact ID. She didn't think her best friend was quite so over the top, or that she'd change her mind about the fancy dinner without telling her, but she couldn't think of anybody else that would go through so much trouble just for her birthday.

"Hey, Marinette! Did you get home already?" Alya's voice rang in her ear.

"Yeah," she answered slowly, turning slowly to take in the explosion of color in her room. Was that a fruit bouquet on her desk? Okay, so this couldn't have been done too long ago. "Did you by any chance put something in my room?"

"Your room? No, why do you -"

"Princess!"

Alya's words were lost due to both Chat's shout as he leapt in through the skylight and Marinette's scream in response. She jumped about a foot in the air and her phone went flying out of her hands. Distantly, she was aware of Alya asking after her safety worriedly, but she couldn't focus on anything but Chat standing in front of her.

"Chat?" she couldn't do anything but blink at him and the bouquet of daffodils in his arms. "What?"

He grinned widely and offered her the flowers, "Happy birthday!"

"Um," it was taking her brain a bit too long to react. "Thank you."

Taking the bouquet from him, she was surprised to find her fingertips numb and something in her chest warming concerningly. Chat didn't seem to notice that she couldn't do much other than stare.

"I gathered all the gifts your friends had for you," he waved his arms towards her bed, which was covered with a small collection of wrapped gifts. "Mine is up there, too, of course. None of the decorations from your original party made it, but I managed to get this at a party store. I know it's not really _birthday_ -themed, but it's all I could get in such short notice - Alya mentioned you were coming back today like three hours ago - and you like pink, right?"

Marinette blinked, "Well, yeah."

"Great! So, do you like it?"

Did she _like_ it? She was. . . kind of deliriously happy about it. "It's lovely, but _why?_ "

He shrugged easily, "I saw it in a movie once."

 _Of course he did,_ she snorted with laughter.

"I can't really remember the movie anymore," Chat continued explaining. "But I remember that the main character did something like this to show how grateful he was to somebody for being in his life, and I'm really grateful you're in my life, Marinette."

Marinette continued to stare at his easy smile, only somewhat surprised when she felt that warmth in her chest spread until she felt her previously numb fingertips tingle.

( _Oh no._ )

* * *

 **A/N:** Has it been mentioned if Tom is an only child? I can't remember, but meh, it's fanfiction, and her grandmother didn't deserve to get in a car accident. I had a little trouble with this chapter because I wasn't sure how to end this without Marinette just leaping into his arms, but I think she would still resist for a little bit longer. But, it's progress, right?

 **Daffodils mean** rebirth, new beginnings, and spring (which I _think_ Marinette's birthday is in the spring). They are also said to ensure happiness!

Please review and let me know what you liked, didn't like, and what you thought could use improvement!

~ Destiny's Sweet Melody


	16. Sleepy Kitty

**A/N:** My job is kicking my ass (new management is ALWAYS the worst) but I'm going to do my best to keep on schedule!

* * *

 **Day Sixteen:** _Cuddles + petting + nuzzles._ In which there is cuddling and sleep and not much else.

* * *

 **Fire & Rain**

 **Sixteen: Sleepy Kitty**

Marinette wasn't exactly sure at which point Chat Noir had gotten so comfortable being in her room that he could lie on her bed for a short nap easy as you please. As if he had been doing it for years. He had never even asked her if he could, she had just looked over one day (surprised that he was being so quiet) and found him snoozing, curled up in the center of her bed.

The fact that he took _literal_ catnaps was not as surprising as it should have been, honestly.

It's not like she would stop him from napping on her bed, she just thought it was weird that it would take him so long to refrain from asking (silently) for every single bit of affection he ever took yet claimed her bed so quickly.

What was even weirder, however, was how quickly _she_ adjusted to his new habit.

She didn't mind it at all that there was an arguably attractive (in a completely objective sort of way) leather clad boy in her bed. Sometimes, she even found herself joining him. When she quietly wedged herself between his body and the wall, he would uncurl himself and snuggle into her side. Which was kind of adorable. In a blackmail-worthy sort of way, of course.

Sometimes, she would sit with her back against the wall and a book in her hands, while Chat's head ended up on her lap. Sometimes, she'd pet his head and run her fingers through his hair, but only because it was funny to watch him smile and purr in his sleep.

Occasionally, they were both so tired after an akuma attack that they didn't even _try_ to watch anything, and just ended up side by side on her bed. During those times, she was grateful he was so tired that he didn't even seem to notice that she was - quite suspiciously - just as wiped out as he was.

Still, no matter how tired she was, Marinette was a night owl. Her mind came alive when the sun went down, and her thoughts raced, and she felt the urge to get up and _do_ something. Even if her body wanted to stay put. Reading was usually what she ended up doing - she could do it laying down and didn't feel quite as restless as she did when she tried to force herself to sleep.

Chat insisted she hold the book up so that they could both read, despite the fact that he seemed to read twice as fast as she could and kept trying to turn the page before she was halfway done!

It didn't take too long for him to adjust to her tempo. Or, at least, that's what she thought. She figured out what was actually happening when she felt his head nuzzle into her shoulder. A quick peek showed her that his eyes were closed and shortly after she could hear him snoring softly. She did her best to stifle her laughter, but she couldn't stop her shoulders from shaking which startled him awake.

"A bit late for you, is it?" Marinette snickered and he glared at her. Or tried to. It was obvious he was having trouble keeping his eyelids open. "Are you an early bird?"

She wasn't sure _why_ she had assumed he was awake deep into the night. Maybe it was the whole black as night ensemble. Or the fact that he would frequently stay over until midnight before confidently hopping across rooftops, not seeming tired at all.

"An early riser," he admitted. "More out of necessity than actual choice. It's work related."

Marinette startled at the fact that he had just admitted he had a _job_! It was a small detail, but it was still more than she had ever known. She had the sudden, wild thought that, being half-asleep as he was, he'd probably tell her anything she asked. He might not even remember doing so in the morning.

She could, theoretically speaking, get away with anything right now.

"You sound like my parents," she said instead, forcing humor into her voice. "You sure we weren't switched at birth? Sometimes, it feels like you're more like them than I am!"

He chuckled tiredly, "Maybe. I feel like my father would like you, too. We should switch places one day and see if anybody complains."

Marinette hated that her gut instinct was to ask after his father (and why not his mother? Did he not have a mother? Would his mother not like her?). Chat was so unguarded because he trusted her. Well, it was mostly because he was more asleep than awake, but at least a good forty percent was because he trusted her to not take advantage of him.

"You should go home before you fall asleep."

"'m _not_ ," he whined. The fact that he couldn't form a coherent sentence didn't inspire much faith.

Still, when his head landed on her shoulder again, she didn't push him away. She just turned her attention back to her book and continued reading quietly at the speed she preferred.

And giggling when he started snoring again. Very loudly.

* * *

 **A/N:** One of my favorite bits of fanon is Gabriel approving of Adrien dating Marinette ( _cough* shipping *cough_ ) because if they get married she'd be his perfect successor.

As always, let me know what you liked, didn't like, and what could use improvement!

~ Destiny's Sweet Melody


	17. Waking

**A/N:** Takes place right after last chapter!

* * *

 **Day Seventeen:** _Heartbeat._ In which there is a morning after and awkwardness.

* * *

 **Fire & Rain**

 **Seventeen: Waking**

The first thing Marinette became aware of was that she was half-lying on her right arm and it was still dead asleep. It felt like she didn't have an arm, and even though she willed herself to move her fingers, she couldn't feel if she had done it or not. The pins and needles sensation was starting when she realized the reason she was in such an uncomfortable position was because she was lying half on top of somebody. Somebody whose hand had slipped under the bottom of her shirt.

Marinette froze, became statue still, as her heartbeat went into overdrive. She blamed the fact that she was still fighting off sleep and her blood was rushing through her brain as the reason it took her so long to realize that she couldn't feel claws against the small of her back and that the chest she was resting her head on wasn't cloaked in black. Her cheek was pressed against a white cotton shirt.

She jolted, even as she realized that was the _worst_ thing she could do (what if she saw something she wasn't supposed to?), but was held in place by Chat's right hand swinging over to hold the back of her head in place. The tips of her ears burned with embarrassment, but she forced herself to breathe and relax until she could hear his heartbeat instead of her own.

It was surprisingly steady, considering that all she had to do was tilt her head to see his secret identity.

"I _may have_ fallen asleep."

 _No duh,_ Marinette huffed quietly. "Why aren't you. . . you?"

Well, technically he _was_. Chat was somebody other than Chat Noir, but she had never really thought of him as anybody other than her partner. Despite the fact that separating herself from Ladybug was so important to her, she had allowed Chat Noir to become a singular identity in her mind. That made her feel kind of terrible.

"The transformation must have timed out during the night," he explained easily. "And I can't find my friend that gives me my powers."

"Maybe he's asleep," she offered quietly. Tikki was an early riser, but she didn't know if that was a kwami thing or a Tikki thing.

And it certainly _was_ early, the room filled with the grayish light of just past dawn.

"My father's going to kill me," Chat whined. "Your parents are going to kill me if they find me up here! Not to mention they'll see who I am and know exactly who to go after!"

"They'll understand," Marinette replied. They knew their daughter was far too awkward to ever do anything risqué, especially not with somebody they knew.

She did her best to focus on anything other than how close they were, and for some reason her mind decided to focus on the fact that there was an actual arm just under cheekbone. An actual, unclothed arm, with actual, sleep-warmed skin.

Quietly, she reached up with her left hand and softly ran her fingertips against his skin. She felt him stiffen and worried she had crossed some sort of line. It certainly wasn't the most invasive embrace either of them had ever initiated, but it was _different_ somehow. It made that warm feeling bloom in her chest again, and she wondered if he was close enough to feel it.

He moved his arm and she pulled away, only to startle when his hand landed on her cheek, his thumb caressing her skin.

 _Oh,_ his heart was racing. Hers was too. She was kind of dizzy with it. Her lips twitched into a smile and she brought her hand up again to lay it over his. She felt him lean his head down to nuzzle the top of her head and she was suddenly aware that all she'd have to do was tilt her head back to kiss him.

She was grateful she couldn't risk his identity (but only mostly).

"Are you done?" a voice she didn't know asked and Chat jackknifed in bed, dislodging her in the process.

Marinette managed to stop herself from screaming, and had the presence of mind to throw her hands over her eyes before she saw anything. Well, she had caught a peek of blond hair, but that wasn't exactly surprising.

"Where have you been?" Chat demanded.

"Napping," the voice replied boredly. "What have you been doing?"

"I just - I was," for some reason, he wouldn't say the completely honest answer of _sleeping_. "Plagg, claws out!"

Marinette dared to lower her hands, and breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Chat Noir in full costume sitting awkwardly on her bed.

"Erm, good morning," he grinned widely.

She smiled back at him, "Good morning."

In the beat of silence that followed, her eyes flicked down to his lips. She could kiss him now, and there wouldn't be any danger in it. For a moment, she thought he wouldn't mind it. For a moment, she thought she saw his eyes linger on her lips.

Then he rose from the bed, "I should go before anybody figures out I never went home last night."

"Uh, yeah. . . "

He was gone before she could even finish her sentence. With a pout, she turned onto her side, flexing her fingers to fully wake her right arm up. Her eyes landed on Chat's autographed sketch and she found herself giggling as a blush spread across her cheeks.

Tikki floated into her line of sight and Marinette felt her giddiness disappear. The kwami didn't seem disapproving. No, it was worse! She bore the smile of the smug that only those that knew exactly what was happening and had predicted it years ago could bear.

"Don't start!" Marinette cried and buried her head under the covers.

* * *

 **A/N:** This was _technically_ more Adrienette than anything, but she doesn't _know_ that!

As always, please tell me what you liked, didn't like, and what you thought could use improvement!

~ Destiny's Sweet Melody


	18. Like, Not Love

**A/N:** I had planned on making this comedic, but then feels happened.

 **To Demi Clayton:** Thank you for reviewing, I'm glad you're enjoying the story to far!

* * *

 **Day Eighteen:** _Bodyguard._ In which Marinette is the physical embodiment of the fight me emoji.

* * *

 **Fire & Rain**

 **Eighteen: Like, Not Love**

It had been pouring rain just a little earlier, and Marinette had been lucky enough to remember to bring an umbrella to school. Not that it really mattered. The umbrella had slipped from her hand when the akuma scooped her up on her way back to school after lunch and the green haired woman hadn't been considerate enough to pick it up for her. Or to take her to somewhere with a roof.

No, the top of the Eiffel Tower was a _much better_ place to scare your helpless victim into telling you where their superhero best friend was!

It was certainly high and slippery, and if Marinette was anybody else, she was sure she would have been intimidated. Not that she would have told them anything anyway.

But Marinette was Ladybug and she wasn't scared of _heights_. And the rain was still at a light drizzle, making her clothes stick uncomfortably to her skin, and her bangs fall into her eyes. And they were so high up that the breeze was icy. And she didn't even _know_ where Chat lived (didn't even know his real name!), and he hadn't been to visit her in _two weeks_ so she couldn't even say he regularly dropped by the bakery if she was in the mood to sacrifice him and save herself because it wouldn't be true!

So, no, Marinette wasn't scared, she was _angry._

She was angry that she was going to have to play the victim since there was no possibility of getting away to transform. She was angry that she was targeted in the first place, that she'll probably be targeted again because she couldn't be sure but she thought _Marinette_ was the only 'civilian' that had ever been concretely connected to either hero (Chloé claiming to be Ladybug's best friend didn't count since no one really believed her). She was angry at the akuma for letting her emotions get the best of her, and whatever caused the akuma as well - that everything was terrible for everyone and nothing was going to change that.

She was angry at Chat Noir for disappearing without a word right when she thought that _maybe_ she wouldn't mind kissing him. For flaking on her parents (the parents he claimed as his own) just because he was avoiding her. For staying away because _apparently_ she had been more obvious about her thoughts than she had believed and he was obviously not into it. For thinking he had to stay away in the first place, as if she wouldn't be able to control herself just because she felt all warm and cozy when he touched her.

She was angry at herself for feeling that way in the first place. As if things weren't complicated enough trying to keep her dual identities a secret from him without suddenly deciding that she liked him! And she did, as terrible as it was. It had taken a few days of anger, sadness, and Tikki being smug for her to accept it, and even longer to understand it. She still loved Adrien, but she _liked_ Chat Noir.

Like was certainly the lesser emotion, but he was _there_. It was easier to shift her affections onto Chat when they shared so much and she couldn't even remember the last coherent conversation she had with Adrien. Not that _accessibility_ should be the deal breaker, but it was certainly enough to make her feel a little confused.

And more than a little angry.

Crossing her arms over her chest, Marinette glared at the akuma, "I don't have anything to say to you."

The akuma (she couldn't remember the name, it had something to with lasers) pursed her lips, obviously surprised that Marinette wasn't trembling with fear. Hawk Moth's symbol had to appear over her face in order to remind her how to speak, "You will tell me where Chat Noir is or you will face the consequences!"

"I'm not his keeper," Marinette snapped. "Or his master. I can't just call out for him and have him appear! I _don't know_ where he is, and even if I did, I wouldn't tell you!"

Madame green hair raised her right arm and pointed the sci-fi inspired laser mounted on her wrist at Marinette's head, "Tell me."

With a harsh exhale, Marinette adjusted her stance and uselessly raised her fists. She wasn't his keeper, but she could be his protector, for however briefly. "Over my dead body."

The akuma shrugged and fired and then Marinette was falling. Or more like flying. She was really getting tired of being carried around like a rag doll through the rain.

When Chat Noir gently placed her on the rooftop (at least he had the decency to choose one with a little canopied garden), Marinette turned her glare on him.

He smiled nervously, "How have you been?"

"Peachy," she all but growled.

Sensing that he would get nowhere quickly, he waved his arm in the direction that they had just traveled. "I should go take care of that. You stay. Or go home, or to school, I guess."

Marinette scoffed when he turned his back on her and made to reach for him when his tail shot out and wrapped around her waist, pulling her to him so suddenly that she bumped into him and she was sure they would both fall over the edge. For a single, terrifying moment, she couldn't see anything but the far away ground. Then, just as quickly, Chat threw his weight back and they fell onto the roof.

She grit her teeth as her tailbone impacted against concrete and she hissed at him, "You're so indecisive! Leave if you want to leave!"

"I know," Chat whined pathetically. "I'm sorry!"

His sincerity cooled her anger, and (she hoped she wasn't reading too much into it) it felt like he was apologizing for more than just his tail almost killing them.

"I'm indecisive," he repeated, pointedly avoiding her gaze. "I shouldn't be and it's messing everything up."

It hadn't occurred to her that maybe he was avoiding her because he might be feeling the same way she was. That he might love Ladybug but he _liked_ Marinette and didn't know how to deal with it so he just. . . avoided it.

How fortunate for him that he didn't actually have to choose between them. How fortunate for her that he didn't seem to think he even had a choice.

She _really_ hoped it wasn't just wishful thinking on her part.

"Maman will be waiting for you tonight," she blushed when he snapped his gaze to her so quickly she worried he might give himself whiplash. Why did he have to be so _close?_ "Just like always. So don't come by too late."

Chat smiled at her and she felt his tail unwrap itself from her waist, "Of course, Princess, just like always."

* * *

 **A/N:** When I first started posting this fic, I was two weeks ahead of schedule, now I'm on the day of! Ugh, I need a day to just write like crazy!

I'll try to **double post on Sunday** , but in case I don't manage, it WILL be up to date on Monday!

As always, review and let me know what you liked, didn't like, and what you thought could use improvement!

~ Destiny's Sweet Melody


	19. Stay

**A/N:** Not to be That Bitch, but OMG I made it to 100 followers! I am 1000% sure that has never happened to me before, and considering that I thought I'dnget a handful of readers for this fic if I was lucky, I am in awe right now! I love you all, and I hope I don't disappoint!

 **Thank you so much** to everyone reading this story!

* * *

 **Day Nineteen:** _I made you a mask to wear out of the suit._ In which Marinette has a plan but _maybe_ doesn't think it all the way through.

* * *

 **Fire & Rain**

 **Nineteen: Stay**

It only happens once more, so it can't be called common occurrence. It's not _habit_ that gives Marinette the bright idea of finding a way to get Chat Noir out of his costume without discovering his secret identity. No, it's Chat being his usual, impetuous self.

He sleeps over one random Thursday night, and even though it can't be said that they _planned_ to have a sleepover, they did take some steps to make sure that Chat's identity would be (at least) mildly protected if her parents decided to peek into her room before they were awake for whatever reason. At the very least, they made sure that Marinette's body was between his and the trapdoor so that his face would be obscured. He had also been facing the wall when they fell asleep, but when Marinette woke up he was curled around her body, his left arm thrown over her waist.

She wasn't sure what time it was, but she was sure it was unreasonably early again. Probably around the time her parents got up to start working in the bakery! Which was just cruel, and she was sleepy enough to start regretting letting an _early riser_ sleep over.

Right until his arm tightened around her, pulling her closer to his body and he whined, "Five more minutes."

Marinette bit her lip to keep from laughing giddily. It felt shamefully good to be pressed up against him, but she knew that she had to be responsible. "You have to go home. And there's school today." (And maybe she just wanted to sneak a few more hours of sleep in.)

Chat grumbled but quickly called for his kwami and transformed.

Turning onto her back in order to say goodbye, she didn't have time to react before his lips landed on her forehead. Marinette froze, her face flushing violently, unable to so much as blink as she tried to process what had just happened. And Chat. . . didn't even seem to notice he had done anything strange. He only smiled and told her he'd see her later before jumping through the skylight as if he gave her forehead kisses in the early morning all the time.

Throwing her hands over her face, she muffled the scream that wanted to escape. _How could he be so adorable?_

* * *

It didn't take very long to make the mask, it's smaller and less complex than the outfits she usually makes. It took longer to decide what _kind_ of mask she should make. She had thought to make a replica of his Chat Noir mask, but then realized that all it hides are his eyebrows and cheekbones. Marinette had never really thought on the magic that powered their masks, but she realized that it must be extremely powerful if she couldn't see his identity due to such a flimsy disguise.

Not that she assumed she _knew_ him, but she was certain that if he was wearing a regular domino mask, she'd be able to see through his disguise in a heartbeat. Then it would just be a matter of putting a name to his face, which was frighteningly easy in the age of social media.

It wasn't Marinette's intention to find out his secret identity, she just liked it when he touched her.

 _Wait, that sounds wrong!_ Marinette blushed as she stared at the mask in her hands. She had considered making him a Batman-style cowl, but decided that would probably be uncomfortable, especially to sleep in.

Eventually, she had settled on a half mask that would cover from just under his cheekbones to his hairline, which should do a decent enough job of obscuring his features. It was black because, well, he was Chat _Noir_ , and she had trouble associating him with any other color, but she had used electric green thread to stitch a flower like the one on her pants alongside the left eye hole and to sign her name on the inside.

She thought she had covered all her bases. Which was why she was surprised when he only frowned down at the mask and asked, "What about my clothes?"

Her brows furrowed, "What about your clothes?" They were just clothes, weren't they? It wasn't like they were going to have 'Property of _insert Chat Noir's secret identity here_ ' written on them!

"What if you recognize me by them?"

Her frown deepened. Was he just making excuses? Sure, she was better than most at recognizing a designer's mark, but it's not like he would be the only person in the world that would be wearing any specific brand. "Are they custom made or something?"

He surprised her by chuckling nervously, "Sort of?"

Marinette slapped her hands over her ears, as if that could stop her brain from latching onto the revelation. "Why would you tell me that? How many people in a city can have custom made clothes?"

"More than you'd think, actually," he answered easily.

That was even worse! It took a certain type of person to know they type of people who could have custom made clothes. _Recognizable_ custom made clothes!

"Just go before you tell me something like your home address!" She pushed him out of her room, not even caring that he took the mask with him.

* * *

Two days later, Marinette was startled from where she was sitting doing homework when a bright green light shone through her skylight.

She wasn't surprised when it opened easily (she left it unlocked most nights until she was ready to fall asleep). She was surprised, however, when. . . well, _not_ Chat Noir climbed down the steps. The boy that smiled down at her where she stayed sitting in shock was wearing the mask she had made, but was wearing a wooly pomegranate colored hoodie, pea soup colored cargo shorts, and plain white sneakers.

"I went to a store and bought the cheapest clothes I could find," Not Chat Noir shrugged.

"It looks terrible," Marinette laughed. She _loved_ it.

* * *

 **A/N:** Somewhere in Paris, Gabriel keels over in pain as he senses his son in bargain brand clothes.

Please review and tell me what you liked, didn't like, and what could use improvement!

~ Destiny's Sweet Melody


	20. Subtlety is Key

**A/N:** When I decided to have them bond over _Magnificent Century_ it was just because I hadn't ever read a fic where it's mentioned (in any of my fandoms), so I didn't think it would become plot relevant. Yet here we are!

* * *

 **Day Twenty:** _I thought I lost you._ In which there's almost a confession, except not really, but there are still consequences.

* * *

 **Fire & Rain**

 **Twenty: Subtlety is Key**

"Wait, why would you ship _them?_ She doesn't even like him!"

Marinette turned to glare at her companion. It was harder than she had thought to continue thinking of him as Chat Noir when he was _not_. He didn't wear her mask often since, despite having an entire custom made wardrobe (allegedly), he didn't actually have access to much money so he couldn't go out and buy enough clothes to be untransformed around her regularly. She supposed he was still young enough to have his finances under his parents' (or maybe just his father's) control. Even though he had a job (which she shouldn't know either).

She stopped herself from snapping that the girl _liking_ the guy or not never stopped anybody from shipping him with Ladybug or Marinette. That would be mean, and also not entirely accurate. She was just a little _territorial_ about her favorite romance.

Okay, so maybe she _was_ a shipper. But, like, a lowkey one.

"They are _married!_ "

"Because her mother forced her to marry him!"

"Historically, Mihrimah and Rüstem were very happy together," Marinette turned her nose up at him. "Besides, they're the same kind of devious. They belong together!"

Not Quite Chat huffed at her, "You're the one that said it's not historically accurate, and in the show, she's not the least bit into him."

"She is, though," the designer insisted. "That's the tragedy, don't you get it? At the beginning of season four, she was obviously attracted to him, and the manipulations of her aunts and his own insecurities are what drives her away!"

"How was she _obviously_ attracted to him? Because she tried to kiss him that one time? They've been married for like ten years by now, of course she'd kiss him, but there's no passion between them."

"Excuse me? Are we watching the same show?"

"I'm not sure we are anymore," he challenged. "Compare them to Suleyman and Hürrem, and then tell me they have passion."

Marinette forced herself to take a moment to calm down. He was going to insult her newly discovered OTP in favor of Hürrem's clingy, jealous murder girlfriend nonsense?

"Passion doesn't have to be all mindless groping and violent jealousy!" Innocent courtships could be just as interesting. In fact, she found she preferred them. A bond seemed stronger when it wasn't driven by mindless lust. "It can be gentle and faithful and slow. It can be just staying beside someone when they need you, and feeling better when they're around, and just accepting that you can't have anything more than companionship but choosing to love them anyway!"

Her heart was beating wildly by the time she finished and it took longer than she'd like to admit to realize why that was.

The nebulous missing link between Chat Noir's two identities was staring at her, green eyes blown wide. She had only been a little surprised to realize his human eyes were green as well (she liked admitting that it had taken her a few minutes to realize she was staring at his human eyes even less. It had felt like she had always seen those eyes, but she supposed it was because she knew it was Chat).

He swallowed heavily, "Are we still talking about the series?"

Marinette had a simple enough choice to make. She could agree that she was talking about the series alone (it certainly sounded enough like Rüstem's hopeless pining for his own wife), or she could admit that it had at least a little basis in fact. At some point in her defense, it became less about her favorite fictional couple and more about how she felt about Chat.

They were friends. She liked being friends. But there were times she felt like they were some weird category of more than just friends, and all it would take was a small moment of bravery to push them into the more clear category of an actual relationship. Marinette liked to believe she was brave, she was a superhero, for heaven's sake! She liked to believe that she wasn't the only one that felt that weird _something_ between them.

Were it not for the multitude of valid reasons as to why an actual relationship between them would be a bad idea, she would choose to be brave. Instead, what she managed to say was, "Sort of?"

The way that Not Chat stiffened at her almost confession made a pit appear in her stomach. The way he awkwardly stood up and avoided her gaze made her feel even worse. "I. . . I should go, sorry. Plagg, claws out!"

Marinette blinked and then he was gone.

* * *

In the week that followed, Marinette cycled through the five stages of grief about three times before finally settling on anger.

 _Why_ did he keep avoiding her every time she so much as _hinted_ she might have more than friendly feelings for him? What did he think would happen? That she'd jump him the next time she saw him? That she would stop being his friend if he didn't like her back? That she'd forbid him from visiting the bakery and his surrogate parents? That she'd _cry_?

Okay, maybe that last one was likely, but she was a decent enough person to wait until she was alone so that he wouldn't feel guilted into being with her.

Nothing had to _change_ just because she liked him. She had liked him for quite some time and he had apparently not even noticed until she all but spelled it out for him.

So, anger. Anger was better than sadness, better than yearning, better than passion. Life went on, and so did she, only with a bit more of an attitude than she was used to. She went so far as to rip her autographed sketch of Chat Noir from her wall (though she managed to keep from ripping it to pieces). She continued watching _Magnificent Century_ because they were down to two heirs for the throne and she wasn't going to wait for somebody that might never come back.

She forced herself to focus on Adrien, the _love of her life_ , and not some silly crush born from _accessibility._

Not that it was any easier getting close to _him_. It almost seemed like he was avoiding her, like he always had some excuse as to why he couldn't speak to her, which was a shame because she thought she had been getting better at talking to him without mixing up her words.

It felt like she was doomed to be attracted to boys that would never give her the time of day. Boys that she couldn't so much as directly confess to! Except. . . except she had made a promise to herself, hadn't she? She swore she would confess to Adrien before the school year was done, and they were already in the Spring semester and she hadn't done anything because she'd been focused on Chat Noir.

Chat, who she couldn't be with because she didn't even know his name, _couldn't_ know his name, and it wasn't fair to like just one side of him. Who she couldn't be with because she was keeping Ladybug and Tikki a secret from him and lies weren't exactly a solid foundation for a relationship. Who she couldn't be with because all she'd had to do was say she was his friend and Hawk Moth sent an akuma to kidnap her, and he might try to kill her if he found out they were anything more than that.

Who she couldn't be with because she liked Adrien first. Liked him _more_ , she reminded herself forcefully.

It was most likely the same fugue state that led her to fight CinderElla that led her to write a letter to Adrien. She had learned that speaking face to face, calling, and texting were bound to end horribly for her, and love letters were cute, right? She was pretty sure that was still a thing that people occasionally did.

As it was, she managed to get as far as sticking the three page letter into an envelope and writing the address (and a return address too!) before she froze. Anger could only get her so far, it seemed. And turns out it wasn't as far as the public mail box. Sighing, she placed the letter amongst her piles of sketches and discarded papers.

She would mail it eventually, but she'd rather not have the moment tainted by her anger at Chat.

* * *

Marinette had been sitting on her balcony because she liked the breeze and the company of her flowers. It wasn't because she was hoping to catch a glance of Chat Noir on one of his random night patrols. She made it her mission to _not_ look for him, which was why she was completely unprepared when he landed on the railing.

Jumping out of the folding chair with a shriek, she glared at him once her heart stopped thundering in her chest, "Do you enjoy scaring me?"

Chat smiled abashedly, "Sorry, I thought you had seen me."

She felt herself flush and was unsure how to respond. She doubted admitting that she had been determined to not see him would go over well. He was still on her railing, body tense and coiled, still in position to leap off the railing and to the next building.

When he opened his mouth to speak, she was certain it was to offer excuses and leave, so she spoke over him, "There's a boy I like!"

Chat didn't do anything but blink at her, so she continued, "At my school, there's a boy I love. I know I've been _weird_ , but it shouldn't matter, because there's someone I want to be with. I don't want you to feel uncomfortable just because sometimes I think things I shouldn't be thinking. Nothing ever has to change between us, I promise."

"Oh, I -" he blinked rapidly and cleared his throat. "That's good, I guess."

Finally, he stepped down from the railing and offered her a small smile. Despite promising to control her romantic feelings, she couldn't help but rush forward to hug him. She didn't think he minded, since he hugged her back just as fiercely.

* * *

 **A/N:** The next time he wears the half mask, Tikki and Plagg spend the entire night complaining that their OTP didn't become canon.

Why is this so long? I'm in actual pain. Please send help.

Please review and let me know what you liked, didn't like, and what could use improvement!

~ Destiny's Sweet Melody


	21. See More

**A/N:** Did somebody ask for some Nino Lahiffe? Well, you're getting him.

* * *

 **Day Twenty-One:** _Civilian has a day with Chat Noir._ In which Nino discovers things and isn't sure why no one else is freaking out.

* * *

 **Fire & Rain**

 **Twenty-One: See More**

It started like an average Saturday, which meant Nino woke up past noon. After eating cereal for lunch, or brunch, well _food_ , he decided to go visit Alya because Adrien always seemed to be busy these days. He would be angry if he didn't know how strict his father was, and how demanding he was with his schedule. Adrien had told him at the beginning of the school year that it seemed like his father was finally understanding and letting the reins loose a little, and then, one day, his schedule was right back to _friends? What are those?_

Besides, Alya was Alya, and he was always down to hang out with her. She was smart and funny and sometimes she gave him kisses, which was always fun. The only downside to hanging out with Alya was that if there was an akuma attack, she would run towards it, not away. And Nino would run after her because she was his girlfriend and that was the kind of thing boyfriends were supposed to do.

So, of course an akuma had to attack right when he'd convinced her to go to the movies. And of course, despite his best efforts, they'd ended up separated. And of course, Nino had ended up getting injured, and _of course_ Chat Noir of all people had seen and approached him to help.

Which was _awesome_ because _Chat Freaking Noir_ seemed genuinely worried about the open wound on the back of his hand, but it was weird. Because why did Chat Noir care so much about a random civilian's injury? Sure, he could be a nice guy but it seemed really genuine.

"Why didn't the Miraculous Ladybug healing wave fix that?" the hero fretted.

Nino felt himself blush at his clumsiness, "Oh, actually, it happened afterward. I tripped and cut my hand against a dumpster."

"A dumpster? It could get infected! Come with me, I'll get you help."

"It's not that big a deal," Nino replied dazedly. "And I was with -"

The rest of his sentence was lost as Chat Noir gripped him tight and launched them both into the sky with his baton. Nino hoped Alya wouldn't be too worried. He also hoped she didn't hear the way he shrieked when he felt the earth disappear from under his feet.

* * *

Despite his wound honestly not being that bad, Nino had thought Chat Noir would take him to a hospital. Or maybe a secret lair or something. Landing on top of the Dupain-Cheng patisserie and watching Chat climb into Marinette's room like he owned the place was _not_ what he expected.

He expected Marinette only rolling her eyes at the hero's surprise appearance even less. She crossed her arms and turned to Nino, "What did he do now?"

Chat Noir gave an exaggerated gasp, "You wound me, Princess, I was only trying to help. He was injured in the akuma attack so I brought him to you, because you're so good at healing boo-boos."

Nino was surprised to see pink dust her cheeks at the obvious flirt, although he supposed she wasn't used to such direct attentions. "It's really not that big of a deal," he assured her, raising his hand to show the injury.

It seemed to have the opposite effect. Marinette hummed worriedly and pulled out a first aid kit from her desk.

"Come here," she called softly, directing him to sit on her chaise. She was surprisingly gentle as she cleaned and bound the wound. Practiced, he guessed was the right word, like she did it often.

"I get injured outside of akuma battles all the time," Chat Noir smiled at him from where he was lounging on the bed, as if he could read his thoughts.

 _And you come to Marinette to be healed?_ Nino thought incredulously. Then, perhaps more importantly, _And you're comfortable on her bed?_

Nino couldn't say he was as close to Marinette as Alya was - they were like sisters, like the kind of friends that swore blood oaths in movies - but he'd known her for like ever, and he wasn't exactly comfortable about teenage boys casually lounging on her bed like it was made for them. But she didn't complain, so he kept it to himself.

Once Marinette declared his wound taken care of, the hero jumped to his feet and practically vibrated in place as he smiled at Nino, "Want to play video games?"

* * *

Of _course_ he said yes! When _Chat Freaking Noir_ asks you if you want to play video games, you say yes, no matter what misgivings you have about their relationship with one of your close friends. He'd get to that eventually, but right now he was actually managing to best a superhero at a fighting game and that deserved all his attention.

Marinette huffed from her spot on the opposite end of the sofa. She had been unusually quiet throughout the afternoon, not even asking for a turn at playing, and honestly this day just kept getting weirder and weirder.

If he had to choose a way to describe her, he would say she seemed like a put upon housewife whose long awaited date night had been interrupted by her husband suddenly declaring it a boy's night. What? Soap operas were his guilty pleasure, and he'd seen this scene often enough to recognize it.

A little before five, she got up from the sofa and announced her parents were too busy to make dinner so she would have to take care of it. When Nino asked if she was ordering in, she glared at him, "I can cook, thanks."

"Can we have Mapo Tofu?" Chat Noir asked without looking over his shoulder. Which meant he missed the venomous look she threw at the back of his head.

"We're having roast beef," she hissed.

The hero didn't seem to notice her tone, instead smiling brightly, "Sounds great!"

Nino couldn't actually hear what Marinette was grumbling under her breath, but given how angry she sounded, he hoped it wasn't directed at him.

Chat Noir elbowed him gently in the side, "Marinette's great at all these homey things. It's like her superpower."

"My superpower is putting up with you!"

Yep, definitely a put upon housewife.

* * *

By the time dinner rolled around, Nino was only half-surprised to find out the Dupain-Chengs not only knew all about their daughter's friendship with the masked man, but that they _enabled_ it. Hosting superheroes was no big deal and, apparently, neither were the random kids they picked up off the street. Although he supposed it helped that they already knew Nino.

Evidently, not as well as they knew Chat Noir, though.

Nino almost choked when Chat Noir called Sabine 'maman', and he was pretty sure he heard Marinette snicker at the sight. _Wow,_ he had no idea she could be so mean just because he interrupted her whatever it is she has going on with the hero. He didn't even want to imagine what she would do to anybody that interrupted her with Adrien. He wondered if she even cared about his best buddy in that way anymore.

Alya had told him, repeatedly, that there was something going on with her best friend and Chat Noir, and Nino had humored her because it was best to just go along with the blogger's ideas until she burned herself out. But he hadn't actually believed her. Everybody knew Marinette loved Adrien, just like everybody knew Chat Noir loved Ladybug. There couldn't be anything there because they were already obsessed with other people, who certainly deserved all their adoration. Adrien was like the nicest person ever, and Ladybug was a freaking superhero!

So, he didn't give Alya's theories much attention. Until now, that was.

Marinette was comfortable around this blond in a way she could never really be with their classmate. She joked, and teased, and actually _flirted_. And maybe even more surprising, was that when she did so Chat Noir gave her such a besotted look that Nino had to fight the urge to look away.

It was glaringly obvious that they were into each other. And her parents didn't even seem to care.

When he asked them about it while the non-couple was busy washing dishes, Tom had shrugged, "Yeah, we figured it out months ago, we're just waiting for _them_ to figure it out."

* * *

By the time Chat Noir finally remembered that he had to take Nino home - Nino argued that he wasn't a child and was perfectly capable of walking home alone even if 'it's really dark' - the brunet's head was spinning.

The events of the day kept replaying in his head as he lay in bed, waiting for the sweet embrace of unconsciousness. Honestly, the revelation that Marinette had managed to bag herself an actual superhero wasn't as surprising as the fact that _neither of them knew it!_ Just _how_ could they not know? It was ridiculous! He couldn't even appreciate the fact that he'd spent most of his day hanging out with Chat Noir because he couldn't get past their blindness.

God, Alya was turning him into a shipper, wasn't she?

His phone rang and he was only mildly surprised to see it was Alya. He had sent her a vague text about getting hurt and going someplace to get it taken care of, but hadn't said where he had gone. But Alya was Marinette's best friend, and if there's anything soap operas had taught him, it was that put upon housewives called their best friends to complain about their plans being ruined.

Especially when those plans were ruined by said best friend's significant other.

With a sigh, he answered the phone but didn't put up to his ear. He could hear her just fine anyway.

"Why didn't you tell me you were hanging out with _Chat Noir_?"

* * *

 **A/N:** This was somehow even longer! I don't love myself. But it was fun to write, I adore Nino and I imagine he would be weirded out by the situation but just go with it.

Triple post as promised! Tomorrow we should be back on schedule!

As always, please review and let me know what you liked, didn't like, and what could use improvement!

~ Destiny's Sweet Melody


	22. Kindred

**A/N:** I'm so glad that people liked Nino last chapter!

* * *

 **Day Twenty-Two:** _The real MariChat aka Mari and Plagg interactions._ In which Marinette decides she has a favorite kwami, and it isn't hers.

* * *

 **Fire & Rain**

 **Twenty-Two: Kindred**

Despite the fact that Chat Noir had managed to scrounge enough money together to buy a few more 'cheap clothes' to wear around her, Marinette had yet to meet his kwami. She knew there were rules that kwami lived by (that they never bothered to explain in anything but the vaguest ways), and that it was probably forbidden for her to see the bad luck god or something. What little she knew about him came from Chat's occasional complaints, since Tikki was characteristically tightlipped about it.

He sounded interesting, and she regretted that she would never see him, but she accepted it.

Which was why she was surprised when she climbed into her room and found an untransformed Chat Noir swinging his arms around wildly as a tiny, black thing tugged at his hair.

"What do you mean you don't have any?" the miniature being grumbled angrily.

"I left it in my other jacket, I said I was sorry!"

"I ask you for _one thing_ ," the kwami huffed but released the blond's hair, floating over to her desk and faceplanting on it.

"Um," Marinette somehow felt like an intruder in her own room. "What's going on here?"

"Ah, Princess!" Missing Link Chat waved nervously at her, his half face mask a little bit askew from his previous struggle. "Er, this is Plagg, my friend that gives me my powers. Plagg, say hello."

The kwami didn't do anything but glare at his chosen. Marinette elected not to take offense and instead approached her desk, kneeling so that she was eye level with him.

It was cat! Well, intellectually, she knew he would be a cat because of his chosen's theme, but she hadn't expected him to be a _kitten_. He seemed so small and squishy, big, green eyes staring back at her filled with wit and energy.

"He's so _cute_ ," she gushed, reaching out to scoop him up into her hands. He made a displeased noise but didn't try to fly away. "What did mean Chat Noir do to make you so sad?"

"Hey!"

Neither of them paid the blond any mind, "I'm hungry, and he forgot my camembert!" Plagg sat up so that his weight was supported on his front legs, his back legs spread open, making him seem oddly like a toddler. His eyelids fluttered quickly at her, "You wouldn't happen to have any, would you?"

She choked on laughter as she realized he was being coy.

"Plagg! Camembert's expensive," Chat complained. "You can't just expect people to have it lying around! You're going to have to accept anything we can find and I'll make it up to you when we get home."

"Actually, we should have some in the fridge," Marinette corrected with a smile. "It _is_ too expensive to regularly use in our pastries, but I actually like it so Maman usually buys me a little bit."

"Wait! You actually _like_ camembert?"

They both turned to glare at the masked boy. He didn't have to make it sound like the very idea was abhorrent!

"Camembert is delicious," Plagg bit out.

Marinette rose to her feet and turned towards the steps with a huff, "Come on, Plagg, we don't have to stay here and be insulted."

* * *

Plagg was the exact opposite of Tikki and it pleased Marinette. His snark and acerbic attitude made her giggle. The way he purposely showed her affection in order to get under his chosen's skin was more entertaining than most TV shows. The fact that he so obviously cared for Chat despite his blasé attitude only served to endear him to her even quicker.

Not to mention that he was _so cute!_

She could barely stand it, and her constant adulation even got on sweet-natured Tikki's nerves. Marinette had made the mistake of implying the kwami was jealous, and Tikki had hidden herself in her birdhouse for _two hours_ , refusing to so much as speak to her chosen.

So Marinette did what she always did to show her affections, she made something for him.

The next time Chat dropped by, she didn't even let him speak before declaring, "Drop your transformation so I can give something to Plagg!"

He blinked at her, "But I don't have my mask."

Not one to be deterred, she grabbed the comforter off her bed and threw it over his head, ignoring his surprised spluttering. "Just cover up for a little while, I have a gift for him."

He made some more angry noises, but arranged the comforter so that it wrapped around him like a cloak with hood, and released his transformation.

Marinette smiled as she saw the cat kwami float towards her. His cute little fangs showed when he grinned at her, "What's this I hear about a gift?"

"It's right here," she gestured towards her desk. On it was an oval pillow (thought it would be a bed for a kwami), ash gray with red and green flowers wrapping around the edges.

Plagg flew towards it, tentatively placing a paw on it before slowly letting his weight fall on it so that he was sitting. An inquisitive look crossed his face as he shifted his body in an attempt to get comfortable. Closing his eyes contentedly, he stretched out lazily, his body slumping against the cushion.

"Ooh, this is nice! Is this self-heating?"

She nodded with a smile, "I'm glad you like it."

"Um, Marinette?" She turned to see Chat - or, well, Chat Noir's secret identity - sitting hunched over on the ground, the comforter almost a heavy weight on his form. "Can I transform now?"

Oh, she hadn't thought about how uncomfortable he would be wrapped up like that. She felt pretty bad about it, but Plagg _did_ seem very comfortable. Maybe she should let them take it home so that the kwami could enjoy it regularly without having to worry about Chat's identity.

She turned back to tell Plagg he could take it only to find him laying on his side, his head supported on one paw and his hind legs crossed over one another. If Marinette didn't know any better, she would swear he was giving her bedroom eyes.

"Tut, tut, you enjoy her company all the time. It's my turn now," he grinned toothily at her. "I'll be your Bebek if you want me to."

* * *

 **A/N:** No, Plagg doesn't _actually_ have a crush on her, he's just a little shit and enjoys messing with Adrien. But, I've always thought Marinette and Plagg would get along like a house on fire. Imagine Plagg, the enabler, encouraging all of Marinette's wildest ideas. Imagine the destruction!

And, yes, he _was_ in the _Titanic_ "draw me like one of your French girls" pose.

As always, let me know what you liked, didn't like, and what you thought could use improvement!

~ Destiny's Sweet Melody


	23. Stray

**A/N:** I tried really hard to find a way to fulfill this prompt without an actual complete transformation, but then I thought "why not?"

I'm so glad people liked Plagg last chapter! I was a little worried, so yay!

* * *

 **Day Twenty-Three:** _Actual cat Chat Noir._ In which Plagg is so done with everybody, but especially Adrien.

* * *

 **Fire & Rain**

 **Twenty-Three: Stray**

Marinette was starting to think there was something about her parents' bakery that attracted cats. It couldn't be her catnip plant, could it? It was high up and was just _one_ pot! Besides, both Chat and Bebek had showed up before she even bought the plant.

 _But_ , she blinked at the lanky black cat sitting patiently at the bakery's side entrance, this was the third cat to show up in less than a year. Four, if you counted Plagg, but he was kind of part of Chat Noir as well. (So, three and a half?)

It blinked up at her and then attempted to meow. Smiling, she crouched down, "Hello, kitty, are you lost?" It appeared remarkably well behaved, especially for what appeared to be a juvenile cat, sitting patiently at the door as if waiting to be let in. She figured it was somebody's pet that managed to get out of its home only to end up lost.

The cat leaned forward, placing its front paws on her knees and looked up at her with surprisingly intelligent eyes. She somehow got the feeling that it wanted her to scoop it up and take it inside, but maybe that was just her own (still very much alive) wish for a cat.

"Sorry, sweetie," she patted the top of its head. "This is a one cat home, and we already have a cat."

Gently, she removed its paws from her knees and forced it to scoot out of the doorway. She hadn't even taken a step before the cat was back at the door, waiting for her to open it so it could slip inside. "Hey, come on," she grumbled. "This is a bakery, you can't come inside."

The cat turned back to her and meowed pitifully, pawing at her shoe. She wasn't very good at denying something so adorable. "Ugh, fine! But we have to move really quick!"

Scooping up the cat (was it _smiling?_ ), she ran up the stairs without so much as a hello to her parents. They already teased her about having a weakness for cats, she didn't need them to think she was starting a collection.

* * *

Marinette had barely placed the cat on the floor when it managed to scurry up her desk and attack her Chat Noir doll, dragging it towards her as if asking to play. With a shout, she pulled it from the cat's jaws and glared. It meowed sorrowfully at her and she forced herself to calm down. Taking a deep breath, she picked the cat up and cradled it in her arms.

"You can't just destroy other people's things," she chided, waving the doll before its eyes. "Besides, you should be nice to Chat Noir, he can probably help you find your home again. I'm sure somebody's looking for a cutie like you, and he helped find Bebek a home in like two days."

She smiled as she twisted the cat so that it could see the small collage of photos on her wall, "That's Bebek, see? I found him right outside just like you, and now he lives in a happy home with a loving family."

It still stung a bit that she hadn't been able to keep the kitten, but she comforted herself with knowing that he had been adopted by genuinely kind people. The family had become regulars at the bakery, and the son loved gushing about his Prince and sharing photos he had on his cell phone, so she knew he was fine. The picture she had was one she had taken herself, however. It was Bebek sitting in the alley, wearing the jacket she had made him.

Marinette blinked as she realized her walls had been filled again, without her even noticing. The spaces that had once held Adrien's posters, and then become bare once Chat started dropping by, had been filled by polaroids and prints. There was a picture of her class at the fundraiser. There was a picture of the beautiful disaster Chat had made of her room for her birthday. There was a picture of the 'dinner party' Alya had promised for the same occasion.

Somehow, without even realizing, all the little things that made up her life had reclaimed her walls. She felt strangely okay with it. It wasn't that she had gotten over Adrien, it just felt like she could appreciate him more without being constantly surrounded by reminders of how perfect he was.

Well, she wasn't _completely_ without reminders. He was in a few of the pictures too, and a few days ago she had decided to hang one of Adrien's newer posters on her wall because the outfit he was wearing looked like what dreams were made of. And she trusted Chat enough to not be all weird about it if he figured out she had a crush on an actual model. Or, at least, he'd probably be too afraid she'd stab him with a needle again to really tease her about it.

Without thinking, she found herself moving towards the poster and, suddenly feeling like the cat might judge her, acted like it had been her intention, "Oh, this is my friend Adrien! Isn't his outfit nice?" The cat looked up at her with an inquisitive gaze. "It's not weird to have his poster, is it? Friends should support each other's careers, right?"

Why was she worried about what a cat thought about her? Even if it _was_ judging her, it's not like it could speak. Still, she found herself walking the cat around her room, explaining the stories behind a few choice photos, before climbing up to the balcony.

The sun was starting to set when she sat down on the recliner, the cat on her lap, "I sure hope Chat drops by today."

It had been a few days since the last time he dropped by, so he would probably be by soon, but there was no guarantee with him. Sighing, she leaned back and ran her hand down the cat's spine, "It's not that I mind taking care of you for a bit, I just kind of miss him."

The cat tilted its head in a strangely human gesture, and she pretended that meant it cared about what she was saying.

"Can I tell you a secret, sweetie?" She scratched behind its ear and it purred, which she took as a yes. "I like him. I like him a lot. I think I could like him forever."

It was such a relief to say the words aloud that she hadn't noticed the cat had stopped purring. Not until she heard a familiar beeping. Blinking, she looked around for Chat. It wouldn't be the first time he dropped by just as his transformation timed out now that he had the half mask. But she didn't see Chat, and she couldn't hear any more beeping.

There was only a flash of green light and then the small, lanky kitten on her lap, was a tall, fit teenager poised to fall on top of her. Only his hands shooting out to hold his weight up kept him from crushing her.

Marinette felt herself flush, and couldn't manage to say anything but a strangled, "What?"

Chat jumped to his feet, "I don't know! I was transformed and just as I got to the bakery everything just got bigger. And. . . then you found me. . ."

She hadn't thought she could blush any more until she understood that the cat she had been caring for, the cat she had been cradling against her chest all afternoon, the cat she had _just confessed her feeling for Chat to_ was actually Chat Noir!

She was feeling a little faint, "And could you, um, _understand_ everything?"

His eyes widened and his body tensed impressively. Oh, that was a yes then.

"I should go back home," he announced suddenly. "Before anything else weird happens. I'll just - I'll be back later!"

He jumped up to the railing and pulled out his baton and Marinette was suddenly very tired with their weird relationship. She didn't want him to avoid her for weeks _again_ because he didn't know how to handle it when a girl actually liked him. She already missed him, she didn't want to be without him even longer.

"Just wait," she approached him. "You don't have to be all weird about it."

She understood that there were lines that shouldn't be crossed. Not just because it still felt weird to like Chat while she still loved Adrien. Not just because it was dangerous to have her civilian identity so closely intertwined to his heroic persona. Not just because she was still lying to him about who she really was every time she worked with him as Ladybug. It was also because their friendship was very precious to her and she didn't want to risk it because sometimes she looked at him and just thought _forever_.

What if she was wrong?

The thing was, standing so close to him, and unable to deny that she _did_ feel something for him, she kind of forgot about all that valid reasoning. Only half aware of what she was doing, Marinette lifted herself up to her tiptoes and pressed her lips against his.

* * *

 **A/N:** So, basically, Plagg figured out that Marinette can _not_ deny a cat anything, and transformed Adrien into a cat betting that she would, one, take him home, and two, inevitably end up gushing about Chat.

He just wants Adrien to date the girl that likes camembert lol.

As always, let me know what you liked, didn't like and what could use improvement!

~ Destiny's Sweet Melody


	24. Forget Me Not

**A/N:** I had to Google what this prompt meant, so thanks fandom for letting me know that on the internet, I might as well be ninety!

* * *

 **Day Twenty-Four:** _Hanahaki Disease._ In which there are flowers and a curse and everybody obviously watches far too much anime.

* * *

 **Fire & Rain**

 **Twenty-Four: Forget Me Not**

There were times that Marinette was sure the universe was out to get her. And, okay, she accepted that she was dramatic enough that she thought that more times than was fair. _But_ the fact that there was an akuma that seemed designed to torment her specifically (it wasn't, though. She had nothing to do with this one), made her feel like she was entitled to her thoughts.

An akuma who made people cough up flower petals if they suffered from unrequited love showing up just two days after she kissed Chat made it seem like she was being mocked by some higher power. To be fair, she wasn't sure if her feelings were _unrequited_. When she kissed him, he had all but melted into her, and she was pretty sure he purred. And then she realized 'melted' was the perfect descriptor, because his limbs seemed to turn to jelly and he fell off the railing!

At least he fell forward onto the balcony. Chat had turned bright red, shouted something that may have been a farewell, and then leapt off into the distance. She hadn't seen him since.

And, _fine_ , two days wasn't nearly long enough for her to assume he was avoiding her again. He had a life outside of being Chat Noir. He had a job. There were plenty of rational reasons as to why he hadn't been by to see her. And she could understand why he would make such a quick escape. If the situation was reversed, and she had embarrassed herself like that, she would have run away to stew in her humiliation alone.

That didn't mean it didn't sting like a rejection.

There was also the little detail that went by the name of Adrien Agreste. If there was ever a case of unrequited love, it would be her still unresolved feelings for her adorable classmate. Yet, when Ladybug was hit by Cherry Blossom's sugar pink beam, her mind latched onto Chat Noir.

That may have just been because he was there, and absolutely delighted by the sparkly pink woman. _Hanahaki disease_ , her partner had called it. Some anime trope that was considered romantic because it could only be cured by true love's kiss. It was also lethal if left untreated.

Ladybug grit her teeth and glared at the akuma as she felt a tickle in the back of her throat. She could not, under any circumstances, allow any of them to know the attack affected her. Not everybody started coughing up flower petals - Alya, for one, only shrugged off the beam when she had gotten too close while recording the battle. But Alya was in a loving relationship, confident in her boyfriend's feelings for her.

Ladybug had no such assurances. But Ladybug also couldn't be seen as the type of person that could be affected by such ordinary things like unrequited love. She needed to be strong and untouchable; sure of herself in an almost inhuman capacity. Besides, Chat Noir would most definitely offer to kiss her to break the curse, and she wasn't sure she could bear him trying to kiss Ladybug _two days_ after he kissed Marinette.

She was saved by her earrings beginning their countdown and she swung away from the battle without so much as a word to her partner. _He_ was the one that knew all about anime. He could deal with the magical girl wannabe.

After dropping her transformation, she ran as far away from the battle as she could. The only thing worse than Chat finding Ladybug affected by Cherry Blossom's attack was him finding Marinette and assuming it was about him. He knew that there was somebody else she was interested in, but _she_ had been the one to kiss him. If that wasn't a declaration of her shifting affections, she didn't know what was.

Marinette didn't get very far before the sensation building in her throat became too much to endure and she crouched down as she basically vomited flower petals. God, that tasted _terrible_! Resting a hand against the nearest wall to hold her shaking limbs up, she blinked down at the vibrant blue petals.

Forget Me Nots, she liked those. Or she did until she felt herself hacking up more petals. And then some more. How was she supposed to transform back into Ladybug if she barely had enough strength to keep herself up?

Forcing herself to stand, she let her weight fall against the wall with a sigh. There was really nothing for it. The world was going to have to find out that Ladybug had heart troubles like every other teenage girl in the world.

The next time she felt the tickle in her throat, she forced the petals out with a harsh cough. It took less out of her than trying to fight it. _Okay, that's improvement!_

She pushed herself off the wall and turned back towards the battle. Then promptly froze when she saw Chat standing there, watching her with wide eyes.

 _Oh, come on!_ What was he even doing there? Did he lose sight of Cherry Blossom already? How could you lose somebody wearing a bright pink sailor dress, with _sparkles_?

The sight of him made her clench her teeth against the appearance of the petals again. Which only served to make her double over as they forced their way out. Her face flushed and she hoped he couldn't recognize the type of flowers she was coughing up. How _romantic_ , even their name was a confession!

Straightening up, she did her best to seem unaffected by his presence. Which was hard to do when he wouldn't even speak to her. All he did was stare. She wondered what he was thinking. If he was concluding that she was in this state because of him and was trying to decide whether he wanted to try helping her or not.

Love was a bit much after a single kiss.

"It's not because of you," she snapped, suddenly angry. She bit down on a flower petal as they slipped past her teeth and felt the bittersweet taste fill her mouth. "I told you there was somebody else I wanted. I haven't been pining after you!"

 _Why_ wasn't he saying anything? Why didn't he just leave if he had no intention of trying to help her? He couldn't even reject her like a decent person would!

It surprised her when he just smiled softly at her. She was prepared to yell some more at him when he closed the distance between them, grabbed her face, and kissed her long and hard. This time, _she_ was the one that melted into the kiss.

Suddenly, it was over, and Marinette couldn't do much other than blink at Chat. Her mind was spinning so much that it took her a moment to realize that she wasn't coughing flower petals anymore.

* * *

 **A/N:** Let's play a game called how many times can you kiss before you admit you're in love!

 **Forget Me Nots** have a pretty clear meaning, but they also mean growing affection between two people, a connection that survives time/separation, and true and undying love. They're also super pretty!

 **Cherry Blossoms** are a staple in school life anime, and most anime in general. They mean life, death, and renewal in Japan. But in China they mean the female mystique and love. Also, imagine Hawk Moth trying to name an anime-based akuma like, "Adrien watches anime, right? What's that thing he's always talking about? _*snaps fingers*_ Cherry blossoms!"

And I'm pretty sure hanahaki disease is a _fanfiction_ thing, and not an actual anime thing, but let's pretend that in the _Miraculous_ universe it's a proper, official trope.

As always, let me know what you liked, didn't like, and what could use improvement!

~ Destiny's Sweet Melody


	25. Trust

**A/N:** Me, updating a few minutes before midnight: it's still technically the twenty-fifth!

* * *

 **(Technically) Day Five:** _Yarning for you._ In which puns are probably not the best way to start a conversation about relationships.

* * *

 **Fire & Rain**

 **Twenty-Five: Trust**

It wasn't exactly surprising when Chat Noir let himself into Marinette's room without a word. It was more surprising that she hadn't needed to wait so much as a day to see him again. She had been prepared to wait at least a week before he came by again, even though this time _he_ had been the one to make a move. He couldn't exactly blame her for his decision to kiss her when she had (vehemently) insisted he wouldn't even be able to help her.

Then he had, and it _worked_. He had given her true love's kiss, as far as akuma powers were concerned. She wasn't sure if that meant she loved him, he loved her, or they loved each other.

It wasn't something they had been able to discuss either, what with an akuma to deal with. And, for the first time ever, Chat had been eager to leave Ladybug. She was worried he would go straight to the bakery and catch her arriving as Ladybug, but her room had been empty when she made it. So, she had been prepared to give him however much time he needed to process exactly what he had done.

And, honestly, she needed some time to herself as well. She wasn't exactly prepared to accept that she was in _love_ with her partner when she had barely admitted to a cat that she _liked_ him only two days ago.

In an effort to distract herself, she had pulled out her collection of yarn and set to making as many scarves as she was able. Even though it was Spring. She wasn't the most rational of people when it came to emotions.

Chat's mask moved in the way that meant he was raising a brow at her and she pretended the heat creeping up her neck was because she was embarrassed. Huffing, she turned her back to him and continued knitting.

"Did I do something wrong?" he asked quietly and she felt her resolve crumble immediately.

"You ignored me for two days after I kissed you, so now I get to ignore you," her blush spread to her face as her heart began beating faster. She wasn't exactly sure she was ready to have the conversation they should be having.

"I didn't ignore you! I had a work thing that I couldn't get away from."

Oh. . . that made sense. Marinette had known that two days was way too quick to assume the worst. But she had been hurt and worried she had chased away one of her best friends for nothing. _It's not nothing._ At least, not according to Cherry Blossom.

"Well, you could have said something before you left," she insisted. A simple 'I don't hate you for kissing me' would have sufficed.

"Marinette," he began softly, and she flinched when his hand landed on her shoulder.

She regretted her reaction immediately when he pulled it away as if she had tried to stab him again. "Please stay over there," she ignored the way her voice trembled. "I can't talk about this if you're right next to me."

Chat sighed but she heard him take a few steps away. She was only vaguely aware of one of her balls of yarns disappearing from her side. There was little she could focus on, just the sound of her heartbeat and the spinning in her head. She had never been the best at confessing, and she didn't think she was going to do it correctly this time either. She had never even sent that letter to Adrien! She was pretty sure she had lost it, actually.

Still, it was a little easier with Chat. One, because they had already kissed ( _twice_ ), and two, because he was _Chat_. She didn't think she had to worry about irreparably damaging their friendship by admitting her feelings.

"I like you," she repeated what he already knew. "There _was_ someone I liked more, but now I'm not so sure. It's easier to like you."

She winced. That sounded like she just didn't want to put in the effort for the other guy. "I mean, it's easier to be with you. Like, I'm not constantly worrying about whether you're going to think I'm a hopeless spaz because you already know that and you never cared. And you fit so well and so easily into my family that it's almost like you belonged here. I don't have to worry whether we're good enough for you. You like all these weird things that I do, that not even my best friend is willing to indulge me in. And I just know so much about you."

It had certainly been surprising when she realized just how much she knew about Chat. It wasn't that she had been searching for answers or that he had been careless. The details just revealed themselves the longer they spent time together.

She knew that he had a job, but didn't have access to his earnings. She knew he loved and respected his father, even though his father wasn't particularly affectionate. She knew he didn't have a mother at home, though she wasn't sure if she was dead or just gone and she wasn't about to ask him. She knew his favorite color was a light blue ("Kind of like your eyes," he had told her), and that he loved anime and his favorite _Magnificent Century_ character was Hürrem, because if you were going to be evil, it might as well be for love. She knew he was so devoted to Ladybug because he felt she was the first person he could _really_ trust (with his life and his hopes and his heart) in his entire life. She knew that she and her parents had been added to the amazingly short list of people he felt he could trust.

She knew he was lonely, and touch-starved, and wanted nothing more than to love and be loved in return. It felt like she was ready to give him that.

"I know that means you trust me. You trusted me with your friendship, I want you to trust me with your heart."

Silence followed her declaration, and she felt her blush spread to the tips of her ears. Had she completely misread the situation somehow? Maybe a kiss was just a kiss sometimes.

"Chat?" She turned slowly and then felt all her tension be replaced with annoyance. Groaning, she got up and walked over to where he was sitting on the ground. " _How_ did you get all tied up in yarn?"

He had managed to unwrap two meters of yarn and somehow bind all his limbs with the stuff. A bit of it was even criss-crossing over his face, a makeshift gag keeping him from answering her confession. That had taken a lot of effort!

Tugging roughly, she pulled the layers of string from over his mouth, "Were you even paying attention?"

There was a blush peeking out from under his mask and a stupid smile on his face, "It's just, I've been _yarning_ for you all day, Princess."

Marinette stared, her mind struggling to process his words. She gave a long and heartfelt confession and he gave her a _pun_?

Forcing herself to breathe calmly, Marinette placed the gag back over his mouth.

* * *

 **A/N:** You know he would!

For the last time, we will be having **a double post** **on Sunday** , or maybe another triple post on Monday. Depending on how many times I want to fight somebody at work.

As always, let me know what you liked, didn't like, and what could use improvement!

~ Destiny's Sweet Melody


	26. Belonging

**A/N:** I tried to write this during work, and was sort of successful. I was actually given an _extra_ shift, so trying to edit/post three on Monday would have backfired horribly. Capitalism sucks, guys!

* * *

 **Day Twenty-Six:** _Midnight serenades._ In which Chat Noir is very extra and Marinette is questioning her life choices, but not really.

* * *

 **Fire & Rain**

 **Twenty-Six: Belonging**

Marinette hadn't exactly managed to forgive him for the pun. Even after he'd managed to wiggle out of his self-made prison and asked her to talk to him, she'd resolutely kept her back to him and ignored him. Eventually, he had left with a sigh and not even a goodbye.

She had felt a little bad about that. She knew she was acting childish, but it had taken _effort_ to confess to him. Even if she hadn't been able to face him as she did so, she was still sincere and it hadn't been easy.

Besides, she figured he knew she wasn't going to take it back just because she was a little angry (disappointed) with his response. . . Right?

Chat _was_ a little sensitive. Especially when it came to delicate things like romance. He knew she wouldn't stop liking him (loving him) just because he was a bit tactless, didn't he? She kind of liked that he had no idea what he was doing. She didn't have any idea either!

But he knew enough to understand that when she said she wanted something more than friendship she meant it. . . right?

Great, now she was _never_ going to get to sleep!

Huffing, she glared into the darkness from where she lay in bed. It was already past midnight, and though she was used to staying up much later, she was eager to fall asleep. She wanted to forget everything that had happened and start fresh the next day.

She was already angry at her eyelids for refusing to grow heavy, so when the music started, it only annoyed her. At least until she realized it was coming from above her.

Jumping out of bed, she scrambled up towards her balcony. Only to freeze on the steps, just her head and shoulders sticking out, when she saw what was up there. There was Chat Noir, with an _actual boombox_ roughly the size of his torso held over his head.

Marinette stared confusedly until her face burst into a violent blush as she actually listened to the song: _We belong to the light, we belong to the thunder! We belong to the sound of the words we've both fallen under. Whatever we deny or embrace for worse or for better. We belong, we belong, we belong together!_

Well, at least he wasn't doing the singing himself.

"Pat Benatar, really?" she squinted up at him. "Are you secretly fifty? Because this is all feeling a little eighties to me."

"I like this song," he grinned widely. "My mom used to listen to it all the time."

Oh, come on! How was it fair for him to admit he was serenading her with a song he felt a deep, emotional connection to?

"Why are you doing this? And _don't_ say you saw it in a movie!"

"I wanted to apologize properly. To show I care."

Marinette wasn't sure if she wanted to smile or hide under her covers. This was so embarrassing! It was so cute! _How could he be so adorable?_

"You did! You're forgiven! Please come in before you wake the neighbors," she pleaded.

Chat pouted and lowered the boombox from above his head, but before he could turn it off a voice sounded out, "Too late! We're already awake!"

Marinette couldn't actually see over the walls of her balcony, but she recognized the voice just fine. She was sort of glad it was Madame Martin. The sixty year old was nosy but harmless. There wasn't much for her to do but spy on her neighbors and it was just Marinette's luck that the sexagenarian's window faced her room.

"Sorry, Madame Martin," she intoned patiently. No one listened to the old lady's gossip, anyway.

"Hey, can I put this on YouTube?"

She paled at the sound of Celie's voice. Of course, Martin's granddaughter was staying over tonight of all nights! Wasn't she supposed to be at a fancy boarding school in Spain or Sweden or something? Why was she here?

"No, you may not! I have enough problems already!"

"You used to be fun!"

She used to be single. Not sort of, kind of, almost dating a superhero. As a civilian. Ugh, this would have been so much easier as Ladybug!

"Good night," she shouted forcefully then turned her attention back to Chat. Reaching up, she grabbed his wrist and pulled him towards her. "Please come in before we end up trending on Twitter."

She severely overestimated how much he would try to resist her. He fell forwards easily, dropping through the skylight and taking her with him.

Good news: they landed on her bed, and the distance was short enough that it didn't really hurt. Bad news: she landed on her back with him on top of her (well, not too bad. But awkward). At least the boombox missed her head and landed somewhere off to the side.

Chat was still smiling, "Marinette, I think I could like you forever, too."

A smile slowly formed on her face, and without being entirely sure of what she was doing, she cupped his face and pulled him down to her. This kiss was soft and sweet. Not quick and uncertain like their first kiss, or hard and forceful like their second. If ranking kisses was a thing, their third would be her number one. His tail wrapped around her knee and tugged her leg up. Oh, well that somehow improved it.

The music was still playing in the background, and she was going to learn to love this song, wasn't she?

"Don't mind us," her maman's voice interrupted and Chat picked himself off her so quickly it was like he had never been there.

Marinette blinked confusedly and then turned to her parents with pursed lips. Shouldn't they be asleep? Weren't they always complaining that they had to be up before dawn? Why was Chat sitting on the edge of her bed, looking like he was considering making a break for the still open skylight, instead of kissing her?

"Do we have to have _the talk_ with you right now?" her papa asked and Marinette choked on air.

"No! We already had the talk and I remember it just fine!"

"Not you," he corrected and arched a brow at Chat. "Him."

"Oh," she cocked her head. "Okay then."

Chat jumped when she reached for him, but didn't put up a fight as she pushed him towards her parents. She almost felt bad at the way he tensed when her papa wrapped a large arm around his shoulders and led him down the steps. Almost, but she knew her parents wouldn't treat him badly (she was pretty sure he'd still be the favorite even after this). Better him than her, anyway.

Of course, she should have known her maman wouldn't let her off so easily. Sabine smiled almost serenely at her daughter as she walked towards the steps, "Told you he was our son-in-law."

Oh, _now_ she could go hide under the covers.

* * *

 **A/N:** I am not from the 80's, but **We Belong by Pat Benatar** is still a bop. I was honestly looking for cheesy music and thought of it, but then I actually read the lyrics and it actually fits the tone of this fic!

Meanwhile, Gabriel is in his room like, "Wtf happened to my boombox?"

As always, please review and tell me what you liked, didn't like, and what could use improvement!

~ Destiny's Sweet Melody


	27. Confessions

**A/N:** My mind went to such bad places so quickly. But don't worry, I managed to keep it rated T and make it _kind of_ funny.

* * *

 **Day Twenty-Seven:** _Sin._ In which Marinette doesn't necessarily think things through, but somehow it all works out.

* * *

 **Fire & Rain**

 **Twenty-Seven: Confessions**

It isn't exactly easy dating a superhero. Or keeping it secret. It was especially hard when you worked alongside said superhero as another masked hero, while he had no idea you were anything other than an average girl. Marinette used to think she was good at keeping her personal life and responsibilities as Ladybug separate.

 _Used to._

That was before she was dating Chat Noir, who was her closest friend in _both_ forms. It sort of felt like lying when she pretended to be a dutiful girlfriend that would wait for him to finish fighting akumas. Well, she _did_ do that, but she wasn't just sitting around with a first aid kit, waiting for him to show up and prove he was okay. She was right there, fighting beside him, doing her best to make sure he didn't do anything too stupid.

It somehow felt even worse when she pretended to be nothing more than his partner. His partner that cared about him, sure, but had never managed to see him in a romantic light. She had worried she would feel jealous (of _herself_ ) when he flirted with Ladybug, but he had managed to cut back to just a light banter. It surprised her that he cared so much about her feelings that he would change such a fundamental part of their partnership. The way she had to stop herself from kissing him right then and there was even more surprising.

The night he told Ladybug he had a girlfriend was even worse! His smile was so bright and his very being was so happy as he talked about his _wonderful, beautiful girlfriend_ that she almost spontaneously combusted from blushing so hard. Luckily, he was so busy gushing to notice that she had taken three steps towards him before pulling herself back.

Being Ladybug became even harder than it was before. It felt like she was hyperaware of Chat and everything he did. It was difficult to not openly fret over his self-sacrificing nature. To not yell at him for making her worry. To not remind him that Maman would be sad if anything ever happened to him.

She felt that he would take it more seriously coming from Ladybug (he only smiled when Marinette worried), but Ladybug was supposed to care more for Paris than her partner. Marinette was allowed to be selfish. It was the only good part about this whole secret identity thing.

Dealing with Alya was a whole different mess. The journalist was all but certain that something was going on between Marinette and Chat Noir and was determined to catch them in the act. This was mostly due to the fact that Marinette wasn't paying much attention to Adrien anymore despite him, to quote Alya, 'all but fawning over her.' She was pretty sure her best friend was just seeing what she wanted to see.

Marinette had found herself doing her best to keep Adrien at arm's length, probably due to the same reason Chat cut back on the flirting. Even though the target of her affections had never given her much hope, it still felt _wrong_ to try to be closer than she would with any other friend.

That just served to make Alya _more_ suspicious. To the point that she had taken to barging into Marinette's room at random times of day. Which certainly proved that Chat was around more often than she implied, but it wasn't like they were constantly groping each other.

Which was another problem. Not the _not_ constantly groping each other part. Like, she wouldn't be against it, but it wasn't _necessary_. It was the reason _why_ that was the problem.

"You're just so. . . breakable," Chat had explained when she finally asked why he never gave her anything more than quick pecks goodbye.

"I'm what?" She was doing her best to not think it was just an excuse, but it was _hard_. He didn't seem to be worried about her breakability the first few times, and then he just. . . stopped.

He had the decency to blush, "Well, you know, I have super strength, and claws, and you're. . . soft and sweet and breakable."

Marinette's eye twitched as she stopped herself from telling him that she ended up rescuing him more than enough times to know how _breakable_ he was! There were rules for a reason. She couldn't remember what that reason was, though.

"I'm not breakable," she forced past gritted teeth.

Chat smiled gently and (gingerly) placed his hands on her shoulders, "I know you're very strong, but it's different. I just don't want to hurt you."

Ugh, it was so hard to stay mad at him!

They didn't talk about breakability again, and Marinette had managed to coax a few longer kisses out of him. Though he still seemed reluctant to so much as place his hands on her waist. _One step at a time,_ she could work with what they had. It was still really new, anyway.

* * *

She knew it was only a matter of time until keeping all these different secrets from one single person would blow up in her face. Even if she _wanted_ to keep to all the rules Tikki had laid out for her. Fine, she could admit there were times she hoped Chat would somehow find out she was Ladybug just so she could be done with it all, but she was honestly trying!

Out of all the ways she thought Chat would find out the truth, she didn't think it would be because she hadn't been able to stop herself from trying to kiss him goodbye. After patrol. . . while she was Ladybug.

Chat pushed her away immediately, and she felt hurt until she suddenly remembered what sort of relationship they were supposed to have at that moment.

"Oh, sorry," she laughed nervously.

"What - what was _that_? You know I have a girlfriend!"

He sounded so scandalized she couldn't help but relax. He was so cute when he was bashful like that! But, making jokes was probably not her best idea, "Well, what she doesn't know won't hurt her, right?"

Chat gaped at her, "That's - no! That's not funny! You're my friend, but I love her, and you have to respect her!"

 _Oh,_ did he just say. . .?

"You love me?" The words were out of her mouth, soft and reverent, before she could stop herself. She didn't think anybody could blame her when her boyfriend had just told her he _loved_ her. Sort of, kind of. It was all getting mixed up in her head and the fact that he rejected his first love for her wasn't helping.

The truth of what she said became apparent to her when Chat's face morphed from indignation to pure shock. "Marinette?"

 _Whoops._ Tikki was going to kill her! There was really no way out of this one. She may make jokes about Chat's intelligence from time to time, but she knew he wasn't really dumb. There was only one way to interpret her reaction to his declaration and she couldn't think of any way to take it back.

Laughing it off would be seen through easily. Trying to run away would result in him giving chase. Even if she somehow managed to lose him, he was smart enough to go back to the bakery and see for himself if Marinette was there and wait for her when he found her room empty.

Well, at least she wouldn't have to feel so guilty all the time anymore.

"Please don't tell Maman."

* * *

 **A/N:** I just wanted to write the most whoopsy-daisy reveal I could think of, so here's Marinette being too lovestruck to know who she's supposed to be at any given time!

Please let me know what you liked, didn't like, and what could use improvement!

~ Destiny's Sweet Melody


	28. Tangled Up

**A/N:** I'm not saying Chat Noir would become a clingy, jealous boyfriend. I'm saying he's _already_ clingy and jealous in canon and they're not even dating yet! But at least he's the cute kind.

* * *

 **Day Twenty-Eight:** _Hostage situation_. In which boys are weird, Marinette is clumsy, and nobody has any idea what's going on anymore.

* * *

 **Fire & Rain**

 **Twenty-Eight: Tangled Up**

Chat took it well, _objectively_. If staring into the ether for an indeterminate amount of time could be called going well, then she supposed it went excellently. At least he didn't seem angry! Marinette figured asking him to simply accept that Ladybug was his unassuming girlfriend was a bit much, but she just expected a bit more of a reaction.

At least he was malleable enough that when she led him towards her room, he followed without complaint. It wasn't until she dropped her transformation and proved once and for all, without the shadow of a doubt, that Marinette and Ladybug were one person (Tikki huffed and flew to her birdhouse, but at least _she_ didn't look angry either), that he _finally_ reacted. A grin split his face and he hugged her so tightly all the breath left her body. A situation that wasn't helped when he began spinning her around until they toppled onto the bed. He refused to let go for the rest of the night.

The next morning he was untransformed and didn't have his half-mask, and the only reason she didn't find out his identity was because she threw her pillow over her face and refused to remove it. He insisted he wanted her to know who he was, but she resisted even though she was starting to suffocate. She understood how he felt, really she did, but there were rules and safety concerns, and being in love wasn't enough of a reason to ignore them.

In the end, he only consented to turn back into Chat Noir because Tikki and Plagg convinced him it was for the best. And promised that eventually, once Hawk Moth was dealt with, they would be free to be together in any way, shape, or form they wanted to. Marinette was glad the pillow hid her blush when she noted the kwami believed their relationship was going to be a long term thing.

Marinette had thought that being Chat Noir's girlfriend as Ladybug would have been easier than as Marinette, but she had been wrong. If he had been reckless when it came to protecting her before, finding out that she was Marinette beneath the mask made him borderline obsessive. He threw himself into the way of any and every oncoming attack, to the point that she could barely attack an akuma without risking hurting Chat as well. It was exhausting! He'd probably try to shield her from the wind, if he could!

They had their first fight due to his overprotectiveness, which _still_ extended to the more intimate side of their relationship. Seeing as Marinette didn't transform into Ladybug except for akuma attacks, and she refused to give him affection while transformed (there were enough rumors about LadyNoir _and_ PrincessChat without giving anybody photographic evidence), the only time they could be a couple was when she was Marinette. Which meant, to him, that she was still physically weaker. Even if she was Ladybug, when she wasn't transformed, she was still soft, and sweet, and breakable.

"Well, take the suit off then," she shouted before blushing. Well, that sounded wrong. In more ways than one. She doubted he was devious enough to deprive her of physical affection just so she'd ask him to reveal himself. It was more likely that it was some sort of self-imposed limitation so that he wouldn't cross some indefinable line.

Her parents didn't emotionally scar him, did they?

"It wasn't as bad as the talk my father gave me," he paled considerably. "It was horrible, Marinette. There were diagrams and charts!"

"Charts? Of what?"

He shrugged, "STDs, teen pregnancy rates. It was mostly fearmongering, but it _really_ worked."

Marinette decided that she didn't like his father. It took a bit of time to get him comfortable enough with showing physical affection that he snuck his hand under her shirt. And even longer to get him to do it without being transformed. But she was very motivated, and they managed.

* * *

The trip to the zoo wasn't _really_ a class trip. Max had mentioned in class that he had read an interesting arachnology article and expressed interest in going to a new exhibit about some super rare spiders. Of course everybody in class took that to be an open invitation, and somehow they'd all ended up there at the same time. Even Chloé and Sabrina showed up!

And, surprisingly enough, so did Luka. He declared himself the chaperone, even as Juleka glared at him for implying they needed a babysitter.

Marinette wasn't embarrassed to admit she used to have a crush on the older Couffaine. He was handsome and charming and easy to be around. He still was, and she found herself drifting towards him on and off as the day wore on. He was even easier to be around now that she didn't have to worry about impressing him.

It was liberating to be in a committed relationship (even if it was secret), because she didn't feel the need to be more for anybody. She already had the person she wanted, and he liked her even with all her clumsiness and idiosyncrasies.

She felt comfortable in her own skin, even around guys she found attractive like Luka. . . and Adrien. It was almost funny how easily she could talk and joke with the blond now (Alya kept giving her a suspicious, squinty-eyed stare, but still hadn't managed to prove anything). But it was a little weird how often the opportunity to do so arose.

They had always been friends, and even if she didn't _run away_ from him, she hadn't really spent an extraordinary amount of time with him. Today, it felt like every time she turned, Adrien was standing there with a smile or some interesting bit of information he had learned from one of the exhibits. The likelihood of him being there seemed to double whenever she was talking to Luka. But maybe she was just imagining things.

Alya _couldn't_ be right, could she? Adrien wasn't _really_ fawning all over her, right? Luka didn't _actually_ have to stifle laughter every time the blond approached the two of them, did he?

The idea that he might have decided to be into her right when she decided to move on annoyed her, but she refused to linger on the feeling. She was in a _relationship_ , she was _in love_. She had no right to be irritated by Adrien's bad timing.

Huffing, she crossed her arms and marched away, determined to get away from _boys_ , attractive or otherwise. And that was when all hell broke loose.

* * *

"This is all your fault, Marinette Dupain-Cheng!" Chloé shouted from where she was lying on the ground, bound by the sticky, spiderweb-like substance the akuma literally spat out. At least, it didn't come out the other end like real spiders.

Marinette blushed from where she was hanging on the wall, but stayed quiet. She couldn't really argue the point. She _was_ the one that had stepped on the rare, escaped spider because she was too busy fuming about presumed feelings to hear the arachnologist scream at her to be careful. Arachnoid had more cause than most to be angry at her (a life's work, she supposed), but she was still peeved. She couldn't wait to hear what Chat would say about _this_.

"Hey, come on, it's not all her fault. If the spider was really that special they should have taken better care of it," Luka argued from beside her.

Poor Luka. When the akuma had come after her, he'd tried to shield her and been the first to end up plastered against the wall. It was kind of him, but the shock had just made her that much easier to capture. Which meant Ladybug couldn't swoop in to save the day, and who knew how long it would take for Chat to find out anything was going on. Arachnoid was taking his sweet time to cause enough damage to attract the miraculous holders, and Alya was currently hanging from the ceiling.

Their only hope was that one of the few that made it out (Adrien, Kim, Alix, and Juleka, much to Luka's relief) would reach the authorities soon, who would then sound the alarms. They hadn't actually heard any alarms yet, though.

Marinette had just given up on escaping before she lost feeling in her limbs, when a shadowy figure snuck into the room and landed in front of her.

"Chat!" she smiled before remembering she was only a sort of friend to him according to everyone (except Nino and Alya). "I mean, oh wow! Chat Noir's here to save us!"

She hadn't really improved in the acting department since the whole Horrificator incident, and Chat didn't seem to be amused. He didn't so much as smile before angrily raking his claws through the web holding her. Gravity did the rest of the work and she quickly slid down the wall and stumbled into him, her hands landing on his chest. Smiling, she looked up to thank him, only to realize he wasn't looking at her.

He was glaring at Luka! _Why?_ She thought he'd be grateful somebody tried to protect his girlfriend. And even if he didn't know about that yet, there was nothing about a teenage boy being strapped to a wall that called for such an angry look.

Before she could question him, his tail wrapped tightly around her waist, making her squeak in surprise. That was all the warning she had before he slipped a hand behind her head and pulled her into a kiss so harsh and long and possessive, she forgot how to breathe. She regretted that she needed to.

The world was spinning when he pulled away, keeping his forehead pressed against hers and his tail around her waist. Marinette could feel the goofy smile on her face and she couldn't remember why kissing him outside of her room was a bad idea. At least, she couldn't until she heard the voices.

"What the hell was that?"

"I don't understand anything that's happening right now."

"Is this real life? Like, is this _really_ happening right now?"

"I knew it!" Alya cried in a voice that was both victorious and defeated. "You monster! How dare you do that while I can't reach my phone!"

Marinette blushed as she realized almost the entirety of her class (plus Luka) now knew she was pretty comfortable with kissing Chat Noir. What were the chances they'd believe that was heat of the moment and had never happened before and would never happen again?

 _Probably none,_ she thought as Chat rubbed his nose against hers. She would appreciate the open affection more if he wasn't blatantly ignoring their significantly sized audience.

She squeaked again when Chat picked her up bridal style and smiled at her as he spoke to the class, "I'm going to get Marinette out of here. Ladybug will be here shortly, don't worry."

"She is?" Marinette asked, still a little dazed.

"Yes," Chat answered pointedly. Oh, right. She is!

"Hey, what about the rest of us?" Chloé shrieked, doing her very best to kick out like a toddler throwing a tantrum.

"Sorry, my _girlfriend_ comes first."

 _Oh, brother._

"Subtle," Marinette muttered sarcastically.

Chat only grinned at her and pressed a kiss to the tip of her nose.

* * *

 **A/N:** This was way longer than I thought it would be, and I had to do it in a bit of a rush because of my extra shift. Luckily, I have the next few days off so I should be able to calmly work on the rest of the fic.

We're only three days away from the end! Can you believe it?

Yeah, I know a spider's web comes from the spinneret not their butt, but let me have my terrible joke!

As always, tell me what you liked, didn't like, and what could use improvement!

~ Destiny's Sweet Melody


	29. Puppy Love

**A/N:** This was genuinely the hardest prompt for me to fulfill, I don't even know.

* * *

 **Day Twenty-Nine:** _Contrary to most popular beliefs, I'm actually a dog person._ In which stereotypes are bad and Chat Noir is not an actual cat, no matter how much he likes head scratches.

* * *

 **Fire & Rain**

 **Twenty-Nine: Puppy Love**

Marinette stared down at the bundle in her boyfriend's arms, cradled preciously like a newborn baby. She let her eyes flick up to his and then back down to the bundle. She pursed her lips, "Is that a puppy?"

She couldn't quite keep the incredulity out of her voice.

Chat grinned and nodded energetically, "Yeah, isn't he cute?"

Well, he _was_. He was small, a few months at most. His fur was a vibrant color, somewhere between chocolate and cinnamon. His eyes were closed in slumber and he made little huffing sounds as he dreamed. He _was_ cute but. . .

"Shouldn't you be scared of him?"

Chat's brows furrowed beneath his mask, "Why would I be scared of him? He's a _baby_!"

True enough, but. . . "It's a dog." There was a moment of silence as Chat just continued to stare confusedly at her. She felt herself blush. "You know," she began reluctantly, feeling embarrassed at saying it out loud. "You're a cat."

She saw the moment he understood what she meant. He spluttered in surprise, unable to form a complete sentence until he settled on a frown, "I'm not _actually_ a cat, you know!"

"Well, yeah, but you're just so _catlike_."

"And I'd be concerned about your tastes if you thought I was this entire time!"

Now it was Marinette's turn to splutter indignantly, face cherry red and arms waving wildly, "That's not what I meant and you know it!" She glared as best she could while resisting the urge to bury her face in her hands. "You're the one that takes catnaps, and purrs, and is affected by catnip!"

"Well, you're some sort of garden witch! You don't see me holding that against you," he shot back.

"That is nowhere near the same thing," she huffed, clenching her fists at her side. Besides, she wasn't _holding_ _those things against him_. She kind of liked those strange qualities about him, they were uniquely his. They were quirky and funny and endearing. Why were they even fighting again?

The puppy whimper-growled as he blinked dark gray eyes open. Oh yeah, because she accidentally insulted him and he accused her of bestiality!

"Why did you bring a dog to a bakery?"

He laughed nervously, "Well, father won't let me have a pet, and I was just thinking -"

"No," she shot him down before he could even finish.

" _Marinette_ ," he whined, eyes widening in a move that wasn't unlike Manon's baby doll eyes.

She was much more resistant to it when he was still holding a dog in his arms. "We can't keep pets here, you _know_ that. You knew I was going to say no and you brought him here anyway!"

Not even her parents would be swayed by his wish. There was a _reason_ why no amount of tears had gotten her so much as a hamster in her childhood. As much as she loved him, she wasn't going to risk her parents' livelihood for a whim. And she wasn't willing to spend the next decade or so trying to hide an entire dog in her room!

"But, he was all alone," he spoke with a tremulous voice. "I found him in an actual dumpster - how could anybody even be so cruel?"

Marinette wasn't moved, "You made me get rid of Bebek!"

"That was different!"

"How?"

"Bebek was a cat! You can't have a cat! _I'm_ your cat!"

There was a moment of silence as they both registered what he had said. Marinette's shoulders relaxed, a devious smile spreading across her lips. Chat blushed all the way to the tips of his human ears.

"That was entrapment, and is illegal."

* * *

The puppy _was_ cute, when it wasn't causing them to fight. He was laying on his back, Tikki rubbing his stomach with all the vigor of a child delightfully finding a puppy under the Christmas tree. (Marinette had always wished that would be her one day, but it never was.)

Chat was laying on his back, too, his head on Marinette's lap. She smiled as she ran her fingers through his hair, listening to him purr. She _just barely_ resisted making a comment on how catlike he was being, but only because it had been mere moments since they stopped arguing. There was no reason to tease him and risk insulting him somehow. She'd had no idea he was so sensitive about the cat comparisons.

"I'm actually a dog person," he murmured sleepily. "Just because everybody believes something, doesn't make it true."

That made sense. She'd certainly had problems when people made assumptions about her and Chat (for years as Ladybug and recently as Marinette). Then again, she _was_ dating Chat now, so maybe that wasn't the best example.

"I like dogs," she conceded and he opened one eye to peer incredulously up at her. "I do! I've always wanted a hamster, a dog, and a cat, in that order. I've just grown a bit fonder of cats recently."

He grinned impishly, "I wonder why."

She flicked one of his leather ears and he wrinkled his nose at her. "I have no idea," she argued. "And I would like dogs better if my boyfriend didn't ambush me with one and try to guilt trip me into keeping it despite knowing that there are regulations against it."

Chat quickly closed his eye, keeping them both shut tight, and smiled ruefully, "It wasn't my best idea, sorry! I just _really_ felt sorry for him."

Of course he did. He always cared far too much for anybody in need.

"We'll find a home for him, like you did for Bebek."

"Sounds good," his smile turned more sincere before being broken by a yawn. "And I could live with a cat if we chose it together."

Marinette froze in her ministrations, glad that she hadn't pulled his hair in her shock and that he seemed mostly asleep. Hopefully, he was too drowsy to hear her heart beating wildly. Did he just imply that he imagined a future where they shared a home and pets and a _life_ together?

She was blushing far too much to be healthy, and she just barely resisted picking the puppy up and showering it with kisses.

* * *

In the end, they gave the puppy to Madame Martin. The sexagenarian was lonely, her children too busy to visit regularly, and her granddaughter off in Spain or Sweden or something for most of the year. She looked forward to having a new being to take care of and baby, and she was also one of the relatively few people that knew about Marinette's relationship with Chat.

She didn't so much as blink at a masked man showing up on her doorstep with a nervous smile and a puppy.

And on nights he visited, he just had to lean over Marinette's balcony to catch a glimpse of the canine. Sometimes, Madame Martin invited him over to play with her little Avellino.

Marinette was a bit jealous that Chat got to actually interact with the pet he was forced to give up. But he always smiled just a little brighter after visiting the puppy, so she didn't mind it for long.

* * *

 **A/N:** I honestly can't see them fighting/arguing seriously for too long. Like, I know all couples fight, but they're both far too affectionate to be mad for too long.

As always, let me know what you liked, didn't like, and what could use improvement!

~ Destiny's Sweet Melody


	30. Break In

**A/N:** You remember that letter Marinette wrote to Adrien because she was angry at Chat? Remember how it's only been mentioned once more? Remember how you thought it wouldn't be important?

* * *

 **Day Thirty:** _Mari!Burglar & Chat!Vigilante_. In which Sabine tries to be helpful, Marinette panics, and Chat Noir is far too amused by everything.

* * *

 **Fire & Rain**

 **Thirty: Break In**

"This isn't what I imagined dating a superhero would be like," Alya grumped from where she sat on the floor of Marinette's bedroom.

She hadn't exactly forgiven Marinette for lying to her for so long, or Chat for kissing Marinette while she couldn't record it for posterity, so her random check-ins had continued until she could properly chastise the two of them. She had finally gotten lucky and barged in on Chat and Marinette curled up together, finally finishing off the entirety of the _Magnificent Century_ franchise (including the sequel, _Kösem_ ).

Which meant they had to decide what they were going to watch next.

Chat wanted to watch some weird, murder-filled anime called _Mirai Nikki_. Marinette wanted to stick to Turkish dramas and nominated _Binbir Gece_ and _What is Fatmagül's Fault._

Somehow, _The Tudors_ and _The White Queen_ became contenders. Marinette would concede that _The Tudors_ was better developed, if only because it had more seasons, except it was about Henry VIII being a jerk to women, and _The White Queen_ was about his badass great-grandmother taking over England with her vagina and witchcraft. So, obviously, there was a clear winner!

Obviously, Chat disagreed.

"It's just so _normal_ ," Alya continued, apparently displeased that her best friend had a stable relationship.

"What did you think we did?" Marinette asked, kind of afraid of the answer.

Alya shrugged, "I guess I just thought you'd be more like Spidey and MJ, or Superman and Lois Lane."

"You think I'm super?" Chat waggled his eyebrows beneath his mask and Alya glared at him.

"It's surprising is all. He's not acting like an idiot and you're not tripping over yourself to please him. You fit really well together, I didn't expect that."

Marinette blushed at the compliment before her brows furrowed, "Wait, you didn't think we'd be good together?"

Alya looked contrite and busied herself with her phone, "I don't know! I didn't think it was all that serious."

Chat scooted closer to Marinette, tail wrapping possessively around her waist, "Why wouldn't it be serious?"

Alya turned wide eyes onto her best friend and Marinette understood she was wondering just how much Chat knew about her feelings. If he knew about Adrien. Marinette shook her head desperately.

Huffing, the brown eyed girl crossed her arms and turned back to the hero with false bravado, "Well _you_ have spent the last few years declaring your love for Ladybug, so _excuse me_ if I thought this was just a fling to you!"

"Marinette knew about that, but she still believed me when I told her my feelings had changed. She knows I love her," Chat actually bared his teeth and Marinette rubbed his back soothingly.

She leaned her head against his shoulder, "It's easier to fall for somebody that's constantly there to support you."

It was as much an explanation to Alya as it was a comfort to Chat. She hadn't really fallen _out of_ love with Adrien, she had just fallen into a deeper sort of love with Chat. It was still a little strange, truth be told. She still found her classmate attractive, but it was nothing more than a passing interest now. There wasn't anything anybody could do or offer to make her stray from Chat.

She smiled when she felt him lean his cheek against the top of her head and purr. Then the click of a photo being taken pierced her positive mood.

Alya smiled deviously, "You're so cute I might puke."

Marinette frowned and straightened up, "It's late, you should both go." She held up a hand when they both made to protest, "Maman's going through some spring cleaning phase right now and she wanted me to clean out my room before tomorrow. Even if I start now, it'll still take all night."

Not entirely convinced, but trusting that she was telling the truth, they both left. Chat with a quick kiss through the skylight, and Alya with the promise that she wouldn't upload the photo to the Ladyblog.

"I'm not clueless," the blogger rolled her eyes. "I wouldn't put you in danger like that, girl."

Marinette really _did_ have to clean out her room, and it really did take all night. It was almost three in the morning and she was sorting through her loose papers deciding which to trash when she came upon the letter she had written to Adrien. Her cheeks burned with embarrassment.

She couldn't actually remember what she had written, but she was sure she had declared her undying love for him in those pages. Why was it even three pages long, anyway? The worst part was that the only reason she had written the letter was because she was already developing feelings for Chat and didn't want to admit it. So, the letter was a _lie_.

Feeling somewhat shameful, she threw the letter on top of the To Be Trashed pile. It was late enough already, she would deal with it when she woke up.

* * *

Marinette figured that the universe had decided that she'd had it too good for too long. She was doing well in classes. She was in a loving relationship with somebody that treated her like she put the stars in the sky. She had _finally_ received word that she was approved for the internship at Gabriel Agreste's company.

Her parents let her sleep until noon. Her maman decided to be helpful and take out the trash Marinette had prepared for collection. And she noticed there was a letter mixed in with the trash, so she sent it out to be delivered.

"What?" Marinette shrieked, feeling herself pale. "You sent it in the mail?"

 _Okay, think quickly!_ It couldn't possibly get there in a day, right? It had to go to the post office and somebody had to organize it and _then_ it would be delivered. There was time to intercept it. Heck, she might be able to catch the mailman at the mailbox if she was lucky. She was still lucky, right?

"Actually, your papa had a delivery to make in that direction so I told him to drop it in their mailbox when he passed by."

 _That's not fair!_ Marinette choked back tears, "That was supposed to go in the trash, Maman!"

Sabine finally seemed to note her distress, "What's wrong? It's just a letter to your friend, right?"

Marinette didn't take the time to explain and ran up to her room, searching for her phone. She dialed as best she was able through her blurry vision.

"Nino! Please tell me Adrien's not home right now!"

"Marinette? Why are you yelling?"

She growled, "Please just answer the question!"

"He's at a shoot until evening, maybe later," Nino answered despite the confusion in his voice.

Her legs gave out in her relief, "Thank you."

She hung up before he could question her further. She'd apologize and explain when she wasn't about to faint from the anxiety. There were a few hours yet for her to get that letter back. She could do this! If Adrien actually felt something for her and he read that letter, she didn't want to imagine what the consequences would be.

But she had time to plan, and she was Ladybug. She could do this!

* * *

Marinette really, _really_ hoped Adrien wasn't home yet. She'd had to wait until after sunset since Tikki had only glared and pointedly refused to help her break into the Agreste mansion to clean up her messes. Ladybug didn't exist to deal with teenage love affairs, the kwami had resolutely informed her. The fact that Marinette might die from the shame didn't sway her one bit.

The problem was that simply walking up and asking for her letter back wasn't going to work. She'd been shut down at the gate over smaller things enough times over the years to know that Nathalie was a vicious sentinel.

But Marinette also knew, from that weekend he had helped her setting up the fundraiser, that Adrien's mail was filtered like in an office, ending up in a filing bin on his desk. She had complimented how professional it seemed, and he had shrugged and told her sometimes the mail just piled up because he forgot to check it.

So she knew exactly where to find the letter, and had _some_ confidence that he wouldn't have read it even if he was home.

The problem was getting to it. She had scaled the gates with worrying ease (she hadn't realized finding places to sneak off to transform had given her such impressive trespassing abilities), but then found herself stuck. Literally.

Marinette had forgotten just how high off the ground Adrien's bedroom windows were, and by the time she remembered she was stuck dangling in the air. The only thing keeping her from falling and breaking a leg was the precarious grip her fingers had on the edge of his windowsill. Oh, this was horrible!

"Can I ask what you're doing?"

And, somehow, it got worse!

Marinette turned her head to look at Chat. He was supporting his weight on his baton so that he was eye level with her, a bemused smile on his face.

"Trying not to fall," she answered evasively.

"And why are you in danger of falling? Should I be concerned that my girlfriend is breaking into random houses?"

She felt herself blush even more. Did he really have to call her his girlfriend while she was trying to steal back a love letter she wrote to somebody else?

"Are you going to help me or not?"

Grinning, he leaned forward to wrap an arm around her and pulled her to his side. She wrapped her limbs around him and was mildly comforted when his tail wrapped around her thigh.

"So, why _are_ you breaking in to somebody's house?"

She played with his bell distractedly, "I need to get something from in there."

"You're going to _steal_ something?"

At least he sounded genuinely shocked. Tikki sounded like turning to a life of crime was an inevitability for her. "Not steal, take it back. Maman accidentally sent a letter I wrote to Adrien - the boy who lives her - that wasn't supposed to be sent."

She expected him to be angry, or suspicious, or jealous that she was writing to other boys, even if she hadn't intended to send it. Instead, he looked at her curiously, "Is it hate mail or something?"

His disappointment hurt her, but she was sure there would only be more hurt if he found out the truth. "Not hate mail, just complicated. Please, help me get it back, I promise it's for a good cause. Tikki said she'd never help me steal from him again, but I really can't do this on my own!"

"Again? How many times have you stolen something from him?"

Oh, _why_ did she have to babble? She buried her face between his neck and shoulder and all but whimpered, "Please."

She felt him shake with silent laughter and then suddenly they were moving. The way he slid open the window was a practiced move, and she wondered if a talent for breaking into places was a side effect of the miraculous. It took her a moment to pull away from him. Partly because of the anxiety still coursing through her veins, and partly because this could all blow up in her face so easily.

After a moment of shuffling awkwardly (whatever he might think, she wasn't _actually_ comfortable breaking into people's houses), she ran to the filing bin and breathed a sigh of relief when she found the still unopened letter. She choked on that sigh when Chat picked it out of her hands.

"So, if it's not hate mail, what is it?"

She tried to think of a way to explain it so that it didn't sound so serious. Then she opened her mouth, "It's nothing, I promise! I wrote it a long time ago, before we were even a thing! And I just - well, you _know_ I loved Adrien for a very long time. I mean, you didn't know it was _Adrien_ , but you knew I loved somebody before, and I tried to confess, but I couldn't and then you happened. It's like with you and me and Ladybug. But, I guess, not _exactly_ because I _am_ Ladybug, so you loved me then and now you love me and I'm a horrible person, aren't I?"

She was out of breath by the time she finished, and her heart was thundering in her ears. She couldn't make herself meet his eyes, which was why she jumped when she heard him snort with laughter.

"So this is a love letter?" He seemed way too amused for the situation.

Marinette pouted, "An _old_ one, I swear! I wouldn't send somebody a love letter while I'm with you."

"I know," he smiled gently, then turned his gaze to the letter. "So, can I read it?"

"What? No! Why would you want to read it?"

She lunged at him but he easily sidestepped her, using a claw as a letter opener, "My girlfriend wrote me a love letter and she's never done that before."

The world seemed to freeze for a moment as she digested what he had said. Marinette felt all the worry, panic, and sheer terror she had been feeling since she woke up tangle up tightly before suddenly dissipating. She sniffled wearily.

"Wait, no! Don't cry," Chat reached out for her. "I didn't mean to make you cry, I'll take it back!"

Marinette slapped at his shoulder, "You jerk! If you're lying, I'll never forgive you!"

"No, I. . . Plagg, claws in!"

She winced at the bright green energy that, true to his word, slowly faded to reveal Adrien. It _was_ just like her and Chat and Ladybug. She had loved him then and loved him now, and. . .

"You're not supposed to cry!" he said desperately, pulling her into his arms.

She sobbed into his chest, a hiccupping laugh escaping her, "I'm just very happy!"

* * *

 **A/N:** Adrien would most definitely break the rules at the first given opportunity, and we all know it! But this was way too long for my mental health.

Tomorrow is the last chapter! I hope it's satisfactory.

As always, let me know what you liked, didn't like, and what could use improvement!

~ Destiny's Sweet Melody


	31. Like You Forever

**A/N:** It's the final chapter, guys! This is kind of bittersweet, but I'm proud of myself for managing to actually finish this month-long challenge on time. More or less; neither calories nor chapters count on weekends!

This is more of an epilogue type thing, but there's not much of a time skip.

* * *

 **Day Thirty-One:** _Reincarnation._ In which there are plans to be made, decisions to be taken, and things that _still_ need to be said.

* * *

 **Fire & Rain**

 **Thirty-One: Like You Forever**

It's not exactly easy to put the different facets of their relationship together, secret identities and all. For one thing, Marinette couldn't just show up one day at school and suddenly be dating Adrien. The one time he'd tried to so much as hold her hand, Nino had all but tackled him to the ground and shouted, "What do you think you're doing? Chat Noir is going to kick your ass!"

Marinette hadn't even bothered trying to help him. It was his own fault for being all jealous and territorial and announcing to their class at large that she was dating his masked persona.

Given that Marinette would be spending the entire summer at his father's company, it would be believable that after spending more time together they would decide to start dating. It was also believable that dating a superhero would be too much stress for an average girl and that she would choose Adrien over Chat Noir. It was believable that Marinette's first relationship would just run its course, because she was sixteen and nobody really expected teenage romances to last (the fact that Ivan and Mylène were practically planning their wedding already didn't count). Most of the class would believe it, and Adrien would just have to deal with not being able to kiss his girlfriend during daytime hours, because _nobody told him to kiss her in public!_

At least the relationship between their masked personas could continue on as is. Despite Adrien insisting that if Chat got dumped for somebody _boring_ then at least he should be able to date Ladybug. Marinette had made it clear that Ladybug was _not_ a consolation prize and that 'LadyNoir' was not going to become canon. At least, not until Hawk Moth was dealt with. It was going to be difficult enough to sell their story _without_ adding a fourth person to it!

The problem was that not everybody would believe it, no matter how hard they tried. Her parents, for one, would be surprised at her change of heart. They might not automatically assume that Adrien was Chat Noir, but they might become suspicious. Especially if Chat stopped coming over to visit. It would be cruel to deprive him of his 'adoptive parents,' and her parents were genuinely fond of their 'son-in-law' as well. But it would be weird for Marinette's ex to visit, or for her new boyfriend to try to take his place.

Alya and Nino, at the very least, would suspect. Alya because Chat had directly told her he loved Marinette (genuinely _loved_ , not just liked enough to date), and Nino because he had a keener eye than Marinette had ever given him credit for.

Publicly dating might be more trouble than it was worth, at least for the moment.

It was strange to think that the relationship between their civilian forms was the one that had to be kept secret. That it was somehow safer for Marinette to be dating Chat Noir - at least to her parents, classmates, Luka, and her neighbor. Plagg thought it was hilarious. Tikki was still pretty angry that Adrien had revealed himself over something as silly as a love letter.

Marinette sort of thought it was ridiculous. Adrien and Chat Noir were so different that sometimes she had trouble remembering they were one in the same. The first time she had woken up with an unmasked Adrien in her bed after cuddling through the night with Chat she had screamed in fright before her sleepy brain recalled the truth. He was kind and good and sweet at his core, and that was what she had liked from both of them. But the things she had learned to love about Chat - his playfulness, energy, and the carelessly comfortable way he'd made himself at home in her life - were things Adrien had never exhibited.

It was weird to think she had gotten over Adrien, only to fall for the side of him he never showed.

"I think it's romantic," Adrien. . . Chat (whatever, he was transformed because they were in her room and her parents were prone to popping their heads in whenever it tickled their fancy, so she supposed she could think of him as Chat) told her. "Kind of like reincarnation."

Marinette raised an inquisitive brow, "How is it anything like reincarnation?"

As far as she was aware, reincarnation was about living and dying and then being born in a new body to do it all over again. That sounded genuinely exhausting, and nothing at all like what she had with him.

Chat shrugged in a way that was way too nonchalant to be genuinely unaffected, "You know, like soulmates. You keep falling in love with the same person over and over again no matter what form they take. Except, we're lucky, because we can actually remember it!"

Oh, well that was. . . the most romantic thing she had ever heard! And it was about _her_. Marinette bit down on her lower lip to keep from giggling uncontrollably as something within her lit up. She was a bit too happy to notice he wasn't meeting her eyes.

"I mean, not _love_. I mean, _I_ love you, but it's fine if you don't love me yet. Or ever. You said you'd like me forever, and that's more than fine with me!"

Wait, did he _really_ think she didn't love him? Hadn't she told him? Marinette quickly scrolled through her memories from when they started dating. _Er, wait,_ had she really never told him? She had told him - or, the cat she hadn't known was him - that she could like him forever, and had all but declared herself to Chat when she was afflicted with the hanahaki disease, but she hadn't ever actually said the words.

The closest was when she was trying to convince Chat that she didn't love Adrien anymore. But that meant she told Adrien she didn't love Adrien anymore. Of course, that also meant she was telling Adrien she liked him better than himself, but. . .

How could she forget to tell her boyfriend she loved him? Everybody was always saying she was obsessed with romance (which, okay, that was fair), so _how_ could she forget the most basic act of romance?

And how could he say he was okay with her never loving him back? She had never known anyone more deserving or in need of love than him! Marinette wasn't sure how she was going to get through her internship, when she got the urge to shout in Gabriel Agreste's face every time she was reminded how badly he had neglected his son.

Smiling, she tugged on a leather cat ear until he looked at her, "I _will_ like you forever, but I love you, too. I fell in love with Adrien for his kindness and his gentleness, and I fell in love with Chat for his playfulness and his loyalty."

The vulnerability in Chat's eyes pierced her heart, and she reached down to twine her fingers with his. It would probably take a while before he stopped looking at her like he didn't quite believe her, but Marinette was willing to take as long as it needed. It's not like it would be a hardship, "I'll love you forever, don't ever doubt that."

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 **A/N:** Yay! We're done! I hope you all enjoyed it! Adrien strikes me as the type of person that is willing to take whatever affection he can get, but luckily Marinette is the type of person that will give him the love he _deserves_. Y'all will never know how many times I had to stop Marinette from saying "I love you" in order to write this planned ending.

 **Thank you to everybody who reviewed**! I tried to reply to everybody to show my appreciation, but keeping up with this schedule was so hectic that I missed a few. I also tried to reply to the anons, but I missed a bunch because for some reason anon reviews show up days later for me. **Thank you to everyone who added this story to their alerts and/or favorites** , I hope the ending didn't disappoint!

I'm pretty sure this is the most popular/successful fic I've ever written, so if you've gotten this far:

 **Thank you so much for reading!**

For the final time, leave a review and let me know what you liked, didn't like, and what could use improvement! That way, if you ever decide to read something I've written again, it might be even better!

~ Destiny's Sweet Melody


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